Agricultural Accidents - How to stay safe

Although many traditional framing practices have been streamlined in the last 50 years, it’s very well-known that farming is still one of the most dangerous occupations that a person could choose.

Whether you’re working with animals or through arable means, the combination of unpredictable animals, dangerous materials and powerful machinery means that sometimes, things can go wrong, with awful circumstances for a number of workers. And sometimes, it’s someone’s fault – perhaps a negligent senior worker or a faulty piece of machinery. That’s why many agricultural accident claims are made every year after farm workers are hurt – sometimes seriously – because of an error that someone made.

However, even though there are a huge number of agricultural accidents that occur as a result of someone’s mistake, many simply occur naturally; from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Here’s how to stay safe, where possible, on the farm:

Always be alert

There is the old adage from the start-studded world of celebrity and entertainment that you should never work with children or animals. And while child slavery laws were thankfully outlawed in Victorian times, the wide majority of farms would be pretty unsustainable places without a good deal of four legged friends – and these loveable creatures, so paramount to the success of our farms, are pretty unpredictable, unfortunately. Therefore, it’s vital to be constantly on red alert while working on the farm with animals; sometime they are a scary noise away from jolting and potentially harming your health.

Always work in pairs

It’s often said that farming is quite a lonely pursuit, and the traditional view of the farmer or shepherd out alone in his field is an endearing one. But as the world of agriculture is such a dangerous one, with far higher injury rates than the typical office job, it’s vital to work in teams or pairs wherever at all possible, in case someone gets hurt in the line of fire. Or if you’re not able to work in pairs, be sure to instruct someone where you’re going and how long you’re going to be, otherwise you could get hurt, and waste precious minutes not getting the help you need.

Lift safely

It may seem relatively trivial after the pretty serious tips of the last two, but the most serious, debilitating injuries can occur from seemingly simple methods. And because agricultural work can include lifting quite substantial weights, it’s vital to lift properly – in a way that doesn’t hurt you.