Tractor Safety week: Take care with blind spots

As part of Tractor Safety Week, Teagasc Health and Safety Specialist, Francis Bligh shares some tips to manage blind spots around tractors.

Blind spots – in front of or behind a vehicle – around farm vehicles are particularly hazardous when a person is on the ground. However, blind spots can also be dangerous at the sides, as they can conceal the movement of someone approaching from the side. Mirrors are helpful in reducing blind spots; however, their effectiveness depends on their design, position and cleanliness. Mirrors and cameras are valuable tools to improve visibility but should not be exclusively relied upon, as blind spots may still exist.

Safety tips to manage blind spots around tractors.

• Encourage the use of hi-visibility clothing to improve the likelihood of being seen.
• Beware of shorter in height people and children as they are even harder to see when in the blind spots.
• Tractor speed: when tractor speed increases the risk of being struck increases. Even at 10 kph, a tractor travels 2.8 meters per second giving a bystander little time to avoid being struck.
• Bystanders must stay clear of tractors and take steps to prevent being struck by a tractor or farm vehicle.
• Bystanders must get the attention of the driver from a safe distance away before approaching.
• Tractor operators must keep windows clear and remove monitors when not in use.
• Take extra caution in farmyards as they account for about 80% of farm vehicle fatalities.
• Good farmyard design including the segregation of pedestrians and the safe use of the tractors helps to reduce blind spot areas and the risk of knockdowns.

To learn more, watch the below video:

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Tractor Safety Week is an initiative of the Farm Safety Partnership Committee. For more information on Tractor Safety Week, visit here.