Losing his leg on a Temora farm at just 12 years old has made Scott Reardon incredibly aware of the importance of safety - something he's now looking to pass on to the younger generation.
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The gold-medal winning Paralympian has delivered a series of talks on road, farm and workplace safety to students across Wagga over the past week.
Mr Reardon said the aim of the presentations have been to teach the students how to recognise unsafe conditions and help them instill subconscious, safe habits.
"Most workers don't even realise it but they are unconsciously being unsafe all of the time and we want to shift that to a point where people are being unconsciously safe instead," he said.
At least 74 people have already died while working in Australia this year, according to Safe Work Australia.
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By instilling better attitudes towards safety in younger Australians, Mr Reardon believes he can drive generational change and help reduce that tally from year to year.
"People just see rules and regulations that make their job more tedious but often they don't realise those exist because someone has died or almost died," he said.
"We want to make sure kids start hearing that today so that they have that awareness when they enter the workforce. Then we can prevent some of those deaths that we are seeing - they can be a real power for change."
Mr Reardon said his conversations with the Wagga students went really well, with many particularly keen to discuss how mental health can impact someone's safety at work.
He also said he relished the chance to speak to Riverina children, many of whom would have similar upbringings to his own in Temora.
Wagga High School teacher Susie Balchin said the students at her school were "really engaged" with the talk and loved hearing Mr Reardon's journey of resilience.
The champion water skier and sprinter also gave presentations at Kooringal High School and Mount Austin High School.
The workplace and road safety campaign is delivered as part of the icare Paralympian Speakers Program.
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