General News
3 November, 2026
Finalist flips the narrative on dyslexic thinking
AgriFutures Rural Women's Award semi-finalist Sam Pritchard has taken her push for more accessible farm safety from concept to camera, filming the first nine videos in her Safety Served Sweet project at Longerenong College.
Ms Pritchard said making farm safety easy to understand began with something that didn't exist.
“I had no intention of building an app,” she said.
“I only built an app because there wasn’t one out there that was neuro-inclusive.”
Now the founder of People in Paddocks has taken the next step, filming the first nine videos in her Safety Served Sweet project.
With funding and support through Agriculture Victoria, Ms Pritchard aims to replace text-heavy safety procedures with short, spoken and visual videos, designed for dyslexic and other neurodivergent workers.
The Australian Dyslexia Association suggests as many as one in five Australians may be dyslexic.
Ms Pritchard said agriculture overlooks their strengths, including spatial awareness, lateral problem solving and big-picture thinking.
She has seen it first-hand.
While managing workers across corporate and family farms, she once oversaw 19 dyslexic workers, and only one had told their boss.
"They were all fearful of not receiving the next promotion, or being teased by their colleagues as they had at school,” she said.
“If we do not understand their challenges and hand them text-heavy safe work procedures and lengthy work instructions, we are building barriers to unleashing their incredible skill sets."
Twenty-five videos have been identified, and the first nine, covering fatigue management, tractor operations, tractor attachments, hay stacking, handling livestock, mustering on a quad bike, overhead power lines, chemical handling and side-by-sids, were filmed recently.
Each video names five key things for a high-risk task, then recaps them at the end.
Ms Pritchard said research shows working memory holds only a handful of new ideas at once, and recapping helps them stick.
“The videos are made peer-to-peer, by workers for workers,” she said.
The stakes are high.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing recorded Australia’s highest industry fatality rate in 2023, at 13 deaths per 100,000 workers, more than eight times the national rate, according to Safe Work Australia.
Farmsafe Australia counted 53 farm deaths that year, including six children.
WorkSafe Victoria reviewed the scripts and sent an inspector to join the crew on set.
Longerenong students and staff appeared on screen, and Robert Scott of Henge Design filmed and produced the videos.
“We all want to ensure everyone gets home safely,” Longerenong general manager Denise McLellan said.
