23 July 2024
‘For every accident there can be about 10 near misses’
Day two of Farm Safety Week, an initiative organised by the IFA Family & Social Affairs Committee and supported by Teagasc, aims to promote awareness of the near misses occurring on farms and to encourage farmers to learn from their mistakes.
Dr John McNamara, Teagasc Health and Safety Specialist, said that data from analysis of accidents indicates that for every accident there can be about 10 near misses. This knowledge provides everyone seeking to improve safety with the opportunity to learn from a near miss.
“Think of all the factors that led up to the ‘near miss’ and consider what actions are needed to prevent a recurrence,” he said.
IFA Farm Family & Social Affairs Chair, Teresa Roche encourages farmers to be mindful of near misses on their farms. Farms are very dynamic places with, persons, machinery, loads, and livestock moving throughout the farm.
Most accidents occur when a source of energy and the person makes contact at the same place and time. A ‘near miss’ is when the source of energy is present but due to timing or place, contact with the person is missed.
The IFA Farm Family & Social Affairs Chair reminded farmers to keep a list of near misses, and review after each occurrence and on a regular basis to consider how you can improve safety on your farm.
Principle of prevention
Both European and Irish safety, health and welfare at work law is based on the ‘Principles of Prevention’. These principles propose that the best way to eliminate accidents is to, firstly, make the workplace physically safer, for example, cover slurry tanks or PTO shafts. Then follow-up with behavioural controls, for example, avoid hurry, tiredness due to long working hours and trying to do several jobs at once, causing loss of concentration.
Farmers should also review and update your Risk Assessment Document on a regular basis as this document gives a comprehensive guidance on farm health and safety based on accident causes on Irish farms. There is a legal requirement to report a workplace accident where person is out of work for ‘four or more consecutive work days’ excluding the day of the accident or where a non-worker is injured.
Also read: Teagasc supports Farm Safety Week 2024