July is a busy month on many farms, with second-cut silage and the beginning of the harvest, along with the rest of the workload, so it is important not to forget farm safety.

Looking back over previous years, July is the most dangerous month on farms for fatalities – this is not helped by the return of children to farms as the summer holidays begin.

Between 2011 and 2020, there has been a total of 210 agriculture related deaths, with countless non-fatal injuries also attributed to farms.

Image source: HSA

Machinery

Over 53% of farm deaths since 2011 can be attributed to tractors and machinery. Tractors alone were the cause of 43%, or 91 deaths.

With second-cut silage soon beginning and the start of the busy season for tillage farmers, an inspection of your tractor is warranted.

Many farms are not operating with the most modern machinery, with many older machines possibly having faults such as bad breaks or dangerous tyres.

The question each farmer should be asking themselves is: ‘is that piece of machinery safe to use and if not, is it worth keeping?’ – you might not get a second chance.

Newer machinery should also be inspected; even new machinery can have broken or damaged parts that require repair.

Working from heights

The summer months offer farmers an opportunity to tick some jobs off the to do list.

One job that may need to be done on your farm is to repair or replace damaged tin on sheds. This often involves having to work from heights.

The risk of a fatality increases by eleven-fold when working at a height. 14 people died due to a fall from a height on Irish farms between 2011 and 2020.

Image source: HSA

Where possible, avoid completing tasks that require you to work from height on your own; having someone else there will help to complete the job in a safer and quicker way.

Having someone else helping also means that if something was to happen, they would be able to assist you.

Controls include having a secure means of access and that the work area is both sound and nonslip, with edge protection.

Skylights and fragile roofs, in particular, need to be identified, and fall prevention measures such as crawler boards used.

Farm safety should be at the forefront of everyone’s minds, not only in July, but at all times.