Pilot-like checklist could help to better farm safety, researchers say

“The idea is to get farmers thinking about their own safety in a way they perhaps have not before - thinking about safety, discussing it with others, and making some changes won’t cost farmers anything but time and could save a life.”

The idea was stemmed after five years spent with farmers, finding out about their day-to-day work and any problems that might arise.

Non-technical skills

The research was turned into a ‘pocket guide’ for farmers which they can tailor to make it specific to them and their farm.

“Despite the high fatality rate, a rate that has not altered by much in the past 10 years, there is very little support for farmers in terms of developing their safety critical non-technical skills as a method of improving safety,” Dr Irwin said.

“An important element of this is also checking yourself, checking how stressed you are, how fatigued or tired you are feeling and how that might influence your safety operating this heavy machine.”

More than 1,000 copies of the handbook have been sent out free of charge to farmers in the UK, the US and New Zealand.