New protocol drawn up for contractors and farmer customers
A new protocol for farms where contractors are working has been drawn up in a collaborative effort by the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and the Farm & Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI).
IFA president Tim Cullinan said it is very important that the strictest adherence to the Health Service Executive (HSE) guidelines on Covid-19 are in place for both farmers and contractors.
“Given the scale of work on farms at the moment, there’s a duty on everybody to co-operate and observe the guidelines,” he said.
The safety and welfare of all persons working on a farm has to be paramount.
Meanwhile, FCI national chairman Richard White said: “Farm and forestry contractors will play their important part in ensuring that crops are planted and fertiliser and slurry is spread in a timely way, as well as crops harvested, during the current Covid-19 outbreak.
“As the health and welfare of our machine operators and our customers is our priority, we are requesting that all work instructions are now given over the phone or by email, using texting and smartphone technology to ensure that field work is carried out efficiently while adhering to the HSE personal safety guidelines,” he added.
We are also urging all livestock and dairy farmer customers to roll their silage ground as soon as conditions allow so that when the silage harvest is in full swing there are less stoppages due to unnecessary machine breakages.
“We are concerned that machine parts availability may be a problem, depending on the length of the Covid-19 outbreak, so we all need to work together to minimise machine risk in these challenging times,” White stressed.
In the protocol put forward, the FCI urges its members to give their teams a clear set of instructions and if possible stick an “essential worker” notice in a prominent place in the tractor cab.
The FCI protocol advises contractors to follow HSE guidelines at all times during daily activities and concludes by reiterating the need to work together to protect everyone and the agricultural sector in general.
