THIS is the time of year when Irish farm families are at their busiest. It’s certainly all hands on deck for silage cutting, and the good weather has meant a much heavier traffic load on small country roads.
It is heavier in both senses of that word – more traffic, and a lot more very large vehicles are traversing our highways and
byways.
It has been a very sad time for three families this year, with the deaths of two young people in tractor incidents, and a motorcyclist who died after colliding with a tractor, all in the space of the last three weeks.
Over half of all fatal incidents on farms involve vehicles or machinery – often due to the fact that longer working days during the summer months can increase the risk of incidents due to fatigue.
But farm contractors, as well as farm owners, are under huge pressure to get as much work done while the weather is favourable, and the recent warm spell has seen all available farm workers at full tilt, lest the conditions change any time soon.
By the very nature of the work, large machinery is employed to expedite it and maximise the productivity.
In line with farms getting busier over the decades, machinery has become more powerful and, as a result, potentially more lethal.
The rickety small tractors of yesteryear are more likely to be seen at vintage fairs and agricultural shows these days, rather than clogging up any back roads or being put to work at the height of silage season.
Today’s tractors are a much more sophisticated affair – they are bigger, meaner machines, capable of higher speeds and as a result inflicting a lot more damage when things go wrong.
Research in the past has shown that there is a notable increase in farm fatalities in July.
This is worrying, given the fact that there have been a significant number already and we are only at the middle of June.
The annual Farm Safety Week will kick in from July 17th to 21st this year, reminding farmers and their families of the dangers of combining large machinery with a pressurised workload and tired workers.
A number of people have contacted this paper in recent weeks to report worrying incidents observed on our roads.
From tractors with wide loads travelling too fast on roads that barely allow two cars to pass, to young drivers taking phone calls, texting and – on two occasions – even rolling cigarettes while steering these giant machines.
Previous farm safety statements from the IFA have urged farmers to ‘buck the trend’ and attempt to reduce the number of accidents on farms by bringing about a change in culture that makes unsafe practices socially unacceptable.
Are farmers who allow very young drivers out on public roads aware of the potential for disaster if their workers do not observe the rules of the road? Have they briefed all their farm hands on the dangers of not treating these behemoths of our byroads with the respect they deserve?
West Cork’s tiny backroads are a challenge for our many tourists who very often have never seen the like. Winding, pot-holed and regularly overgrown, they represent a fine test of motoring agility to navigate them without any near misses, at the best of times.
Add to the mix an approaching modern tractor, travelling at speed, drawing a large harvesting machine or a slurry tank – often wider than the first vehicle – driven by an inexperienced young driver, possibly on their phone, and … well, do we need to expand on that visual? It’s a recipe for disaster.
Agriculture accounts for a whopping 42% of work-related fatalities in this country, and vehicle-related incidents are by far the single most common type of incident leading to fatalities in agriculture.
Maybe it’s time we brought the farm safety week date forward to remind people ahead of silage season of the very real dangers? Why wait, when recent weeks have shown us the importance of the message.
