I’ve taken a few knocks in my farming career too but I’ve learned that, with a bit of planning and forethought, most accidents are avoidable.
The major common factors in fatal accidents on farms are vehicles and machinery and one of the major obstacles to reducing them are the myths that have grown up around the use of vehicles on farms.
As a farmer and ambassador for WorkSafe’s Safer Farms programme I talk to a lot of farmers and I hear these same myths aired over and over again.
Since 2011, 128 people have died in farm accidents – 90% involved vehicles or machinery.
So in this series I’m going to have a go at busting some of the misconceptions that contribute to that unacceptable toll.
Myth 1: Using vehicles on farms is inherently dangerous, accidents happen
Sadly, if you attend the funeral of someone who has died in a farm accident, someone will likely come out with this myth.
A vehicle is involved in seven out of every 10 fatal farm incidents and the reality is almost every one of those deaths is avoidable.
I’ve rolled a farm vehicle and was lucky to walk away.
Now I look at it this way: as farmers we need to put the same thought and planning into operating vehicles on our farms as we do for driving on a public road.
If you’re driving on a road and there’s snow, frost, fog or heavy rain you take the safest route and drive to the conditions. You make a mental note of roadworks and you keep an eye out for what other drivers are doing. If you need to pick up a load of stuff from the farm store you take a truck not a Suzuki Swift.
It’s all about choosing the right vehicle for the job, driving to the conditions, knowing where the risks are and making sure everyone who uses that vehicle is trained and capable of handling it well.
That’s why I don’t take my quad out on frosty mornings or onto slippery slopes or use it to tow heavy loads. I don’t want to get into strife.
I’m also very aware it isn’t youngsters who feature highest in the fatal accident figures for farms. It’s guys around my age doing routine jobs, often later in the day, so I bear that in mind when I’m trying to get stuff finished before dinner.
As farmers, vehicles are our critical risk.
You wouldn’t use a sledgehammer to knock a nail in or an ordinary hammer to knock in a post so think about your farm vehicles in the same way.
It’s about mindset and taking a few minutes to select the right tool for the job and making sure everyone else using vehicles on your farm gets that message too.
