Learn from Farm Accident ‘Near Misses’ – IFA
IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs chair Teresa Roche is encouraging farmers to be mindful of near misses on their farms.
Day two of Farm Safety Week 2024 is to promote awareness around the near misses on farms and to help farmers to learn from their near misses.
Farms are very busy, active places with people, livestock and machinery constantly moving. Most farm accidents occur when a source of energy and a person make contact at the same place and time. Near misses mean that due to different timing or place a person avoids contact with the source of energy.
According to data analysis by Dr. John McNamara, Health and Specialist Advisor for Teagasc, for every accident that does occur there are about 10 near misses. By looking at this data, information can be gathered about how to improve safety measures on farms and reduce accidents and near misses.
“Think of all the factors that led up to the ‘near miss’ and consider what actions are needed to prevent a recurrence,” he said.
Irish and European health, safety and welfare at work laws are based on “Principles of Prevention”. These propose that the best way to avoid workplace accidents altogether is to make the workplace physically safer and focus on behavioural changes for safety.
Physical safety measures for farms would include covering slurry tanks and PTO shafts. Behavioural changes that should be made in the interest of safety include avoiding hurry and fatigue, and ensuring focus is put on one job at a time to avoid losing concentration.
Teresa Roche is urging farmers to keep a record of near misses on their farms. This list should then be reviewed regularly to consider how safety measures should be updated to avoid similar occurrences.
There is a legal obligation to report incidents where a person is out of work for more than four days consecutively excluding the day of the accident or where a non-worker is injured. Information on the requirements to report these incidents can be found on the HSA website – here