Farm safety: Keeping everyone safe during silage season

We’re entering the summer period, where hard work and preparation is starting to pay off – despite the chilly start to May. It’s great to see fields starting to green-up, and our focus will now turn to saving the winter feed, while maintaining farm safety protocols.

However, we are in a new Post-Covid era, so it’s important to remember just how much habits have changed.

Across the countryside people have started to enjoy simple pleasures like taking a walk or riding a bike. Families with small kids have also started to frequent our country roads and have included daily excursions as part of their everyday life.

So, when it comes to using large machinery, this will bring with it new and added dangers. Narrow, windy roads and boreens are already challenging for large farm machinery. But now you’ll need to share them more frequently with other vehicles and pedestrians, and without the luxury of footpaths and streetlights.

How to ensure everyone’s safety

This means it’s important that farmers or contractors, participating in the cutting of crops or transport of hay/silage, are extra vigilant and prepare the other road users.

Here are some of the ways to do that:

Display Signage: These will let other road users know where you are operating from that day.

Ensure you’re roadworthy: All your vehicles should be in good working condition and should meet the RSA guidelines in relation to lights, beacons and vehicle widths.

Identify areas of risk: All your drivers should be made aware of built-up areas, schools, sportsgrounds, and parks along your routes. Plan to avoid these areas if possible.

Train all staff: Farm machinery has come on leaps and bounds recently but they’ve also got much bigger and faster. All drivers and operators should be fully trained to handle these machines.

Children’s farm safety: Contractors should speak to the farmer prior to carrying out work ensuring that children are supervised in the yard area and kept away from areas of danger.

What you should expect from other road users

Conversely other roads users need to understand the pressure and timelines of farmers and contractors during this busy period.

So, they ideally should consider the following duty-of-care measures:

Try and avoid roads farm machinery are operating on;
Respond to all warning signs like road signs, hazard lights and beacons;
Slow down and try to pull in. The machines they meet are massive and often top heavy;
Communicate with farmer/contractor if there are any events taking place that will make the road busier;
Always supervise young children and educate them on the dangers.

Like most parts of a farmer’s calendar year the silage season doesn’t last long. And with good planning and luck hopefully another one will pass with no issues or incidents.

In the meantime, please take care on the roads from all at AXA Smart Farm.