HSA Farm Safety Campaign

Borrissey

I don't know about ye but I was stunned when I saw the stats for injuries and deaths on Irish farms. Maybe I'm ignorant but I had no idea it was so high. The new HSA farm safety campaign says someone died every 2 weeks on an Irish farm in recent years, bloody hell!

Have any of ye seen the new campaign? Here's the Facebook link if you haven't http://www.facebook.com/FarmAccidents. What do ye think of it? I think it's great more awareness is being raised, especially when you think of younger more inexperienced people working on the farm, you'd be terrified they'd overlook something or make a silly mistake, the consequences are no joke.

Hope to see this campaign really taking off so noone even takes the most minor of risks, it just isn't worth it. Watching the videos what'd really strike you is that the accidents are so avoidable. Share it around and let people know anyway. The world and its mother are on Facebook nowadays so it's handy to use to spread the word around.

masseys scrap and zetors no better

yes i was always aware of the amount of incidents on irish farms and thanks for that link.believe it or not just last night i was thinking about starting a forum like this and asking the question are we really doing enough when it comes to farm safety? i myself think that 90% of farmers are not.i was involved myself in an accident on the 5th of may 2008.i was always very aware of dangers and tried to avoid them or take the safe approach on the farm but a busy schedule got the better of me that bank holiday morning.i was rushing to change the tractor hitch from the hook to the drawbar to attach the ball hitch to transport cattle.instead of getting into the tractor to lock the hitch i stood on the drawbar and reached in and pulled the lift lever,my foot was an inch to far in and i got 2 of my toes and the outside of my foot crushed.the hitch latched and i was stuck.i was forced to lift the lift again and crush my toes for a second time to get myself released.when i got myself out i was in shock and thought nothing happened and i was fine,as i was walking across the yard i collapsed and next thing i knew i was going in the hospital door in serious pain.luckily my father found me within a minute and saw the blood on my foot and knew i needed urgent help.he rushed me to hospital.i remember the doctor taking off my sock,my world collapsed when i saw my foot,there was 2 toes missing,he held up the sock and these 2 black things fell out of it.i was then rushed to theatre where they fixed the side of my foot and re attached my toes.there was a 30% chance they would survive,6 weeks later i was back to get them removed again.spent all may,june and july on crutches and had to learn how to walk again after that and go through counselling and various pain clinics to help me deal with it.it was a very bad ordeal that i would hope no one else has to go through.that 1 thing i done trying to save 10 seconds of time ended up costing me 4 months,2 toes,alot of time in hospital and alot of pain.now i look back and think how lucky i was because if my foot had of been another inch further in i would of lost it.i didnt look at it that way at the time but now i realise. 4 years on im still attending hostital appointments and clinics because of it. i understand that im one of the lucky ones as there is many people confined to wheelchairs and with other serious injuries not to mention the ones that lost there lives all because of a farming accident.farmers need to take more action and not be afraid to spend money to improve safety on there farms.

Bizzum

masseys scrap and zetors no better wrote: »

yes i was always aware of the amount of incidents on irish farms and thanks for that link.believe it or not just last night i was thinking about starting a forum like this and asking the question are we really doing enough when it comes to farm safety? i myself think that 90% of farmers are not.i was involved myself in an accident on the 5th of may 2008.i was always very aware of dangers and tried to avoid them or take the safe approach on the farm but a busy schedule got the better of me that bank holiday morning.i was rushing to change the tractor hitch from the hook to the drawbar to attach the ball hitch to transport cattle.instead of getting into the tractor to lock the hitch i stood on the drawbar and reached in and pulled the lift lever,my foot was an inch to far in and i got 2 of my toes and the outside of my foot crushed.the hitch latched and i was stuck.i was forced to lift the lift again and crush my toes for a second time to get myself released.when i got myself out i was in shock and thought nothing happened and i was fine,as i was walking across the yard i collapsed and next thing i knew i was going in the hospital door in serious pain.luckily my father found me within a minute and saw the blood on my foot and knew i needed urgent help.he rushed me to hospital.i remember the doctor taking off my sock,my world collapsed when i saw my foot,there was 2 toes missing,he held up the sock and these 2 black things fell out of it.i was then rushed to theatre where they fixed the side of my foot and re attached my toes.there was a 30% chance they would survive,6 weeks later i was back to get them removed again.spent all may,june and july on crutches and had to learn how to walk again after that and go through counselling and various pain clinics to help me deal with it.it was a very bad ordeal that i would hope no one else has to go through.that 1 thing i done trying to save 10 seconds of time ended up costing me 4 months,2 toes,alot of time in hospital and alot of pain.now i look back and think how lucky i was because if my foot had of been another inch further in i would of lost it.i didnt look at it that way at the time but now i realise. 4 years on im still attending hostital appointments and clinics because of it. i understand that im one of the lucky ones as there is many people confined to wheelchairs and with other serious injuries not to mention the ones that lost there lives all because of a farming accident.farmers need to take more action and not be afraid to spend money to improve safety on there farms.

That's very very sobering. There's not a man amonst us that can't empathise with your story. We've all done it one time or another, cut the corner, take the handy way out...........For what? Only to save a few seconds. They could be the most expensive few seconds ever saved.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
It certainly made me think!

Fat Cant

I think this is a great thread to let people keep in mind the dangers especially this time of year with everybody been busy . most people think "aah an accident will never happen to me" everybody needs to slow down and think .
I nearly lost my eye last year when I was hammering at steel and a piece flew into my eye , the doctor told me that there was 30% chance of ever seeing in that eye again which took a full month to get sight back in it again thank god . It is ok now but never do I take chances and it was a great wake up call .
it is no harm going around your yard for a few hours or think b4 you do a job to make it safer pto gards , driving out to see bulls in fields instead of walking etc.
I think dep of agri should have a scheme for making yards more safer . I don't think there is much done on this side of farming .

Borrissey

Sorry to hear about your accidents Massey and Fat Cant. Thanks for sharing. It's doing this that raises awareness and makes people think twice. Really makes you realise that no amount of risky time or money saving is worth it, it's just too risky. Hopefully the campaign will gain a bit of momentum and the younger farmers who might be a bit more foolhardy and less experienced and the older ones who maybe are overconfident will take heed and realise it could happen to anyone.

F.D

I hope farmer do start to cop on about their safety because if they dont there wont be just little awareness campaigns for them to worry about it will be big inspections, big fines and it will get to the point you wont be able to pick up a fork without a cert to drive it, we all take risks and looking at the previous posts its the reality check we need and its in our own hands to do something about it,
just another note, why dont the government do some scheme to remove the vat on things like pto guards etc for a 6 month period as a incentive for people to get there act in gear, not that price should be an issue over safety but you know that will be one of the complaints

lakill Farm

F.D. - i totally agree. Vat reduction on pto covers
ppe for chainsaws/angle grinders etc. (Chainsaw trouser are €220 alone)

My OH is a primary teacher in a school stuck in a small farming community and a few months back a dad dropped a silage bale on this 8 year old sons leg. Broke the leg but young lad is flying now.

last year another dad had a tractor fall off a jack (It was split) and crush him. Lucky to survive

I have had a few near misses and i would count myself safety aware. I did a safe pass for safety not for nessessaty. However we bought our place 2 years ago it looked safe but omg it isnt. The lad we bought it off is mid 50s and here are a few of the problem areas i have fixed/plan on doing
Done
Very poor fencing along main road. _ Safety of road users
electric cable(Not armoured) buried 6inch in ground - everyone was at risk
water pipes dripping - absolute busted myself on black ice
Gates and big doors allowed to swing - safety harzard to person and cars in windy weather
Bad welding points and electric earth bar for electric fence
bad block wall in yard - i knocked it before it fell
house sockets and light switches

To Do
Very poor crush/cattle handling- safety of me and vet
Poor agitation point and its inside in the shed- bad for driver and animals
Fix handbrake on tractor

F.D wrote: »

just another note, why dont the government do some scheme to remove the vat on things like pto guards etc for a 6 month period as a incentive for people to get there act in gear, not that price should be an issue over safety but you know that will be one of the complaints

quietsailor

A fella called djmc posted this video on a similar thread on this forum, it's people talking who have had accidents on farms - it's very frightening how easily people got severely hurt.

I came close to having the PTO accident when I was much younger, it's only now I realise just how bad it would have been