Every day in Northern Ireland farmers risk life and limb by working with unguarded PTO Shafts.
To encourage farmers to STOP and THINK about the dangers of unguarded or poorly guarded power take-off shafts (PTOs) the Farm Safety Partnership, in association with local farm machinery dealers, is launching Northern Ireland’s first ‘PTO Safety Week’, which starts this Monday 23 September.
The initiative also provides farmers with practical assistance to address shortfalls around their PTO guarding. A 15 per cent discount on new PTO guards from participating dealers is on offer from Monday 23 through to Saturday 28 September.
At a launch event for ‘PTO Safety Week’ at CAFRE, Greenmount Campus, Antrim, agricultural students were given a practical demonstration on PTO safety by experienced agricultural engineer, Colin Robinson.
During the demonstration, Colin also told the students how as a young man he was badly injured in an accident involving an unguarded shaft.
Describing how his injuries have affected him throughout his working life, Colin also acknowledged that this split second lapse of judgement could have resulted in far worse injuries or even death.
Colin also pointed out that his accident was entirely preventable had proper guarding been in place and urged the students, our farmers of tomorrow, to make farm safety a priority for their future careers.
A programme of safety visits by officers from the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) will specifically target issues around PTOs throughout the week.
While these visits will be advisory in nature, HSENI officers will have no option but to take enforcement action should they observe unguarded or poorly guarded PTOs that pose an immediate danger.
During last autumn’s farm safety visits campaign more than 90 per cent of the prohibition notices served were in relation to PTO guarding.
Calling on farmers to take advantage of the initiative, Chair of HSENI and the Farm Safety Partnership George Lucas said:
“I’d like to thank all the participating dealers for their support in making PTO Safety Week possible. It is a fine example of how all of us associated with the farming industry can play a part in making our farms safer to work and live on.
“This week provides farmers with a great opportunity to take direct and immediate action to reduce the dangers from unguarded or poorly guarded PTO shafts.
“Please, don’t leave yourself or your loved ones open to serious injury, or even death.”
Deputy President of the Ulster Farmers’ Union Barclay Bell added:
“PTO Safety Week is a terrific opportunity for all of us to look at PTOs on our farms and to take decisive action to protect ourselves and others.
“I’d also like to thank the many local dealers who have signed up to the scheme and I’d urge all farmers to take advantage of this week to make sure their PTO guards are up to a safe standard.”
A full list of participating dealers is available on the Ulster Farmers’ Union website: https://www.ufuni.org/
To coincide with PTO Safety Week, HSENI has developed a new free leaflet for farmers to help protect them and others from the dangers from PTOs. It includes advice for choosing a PTO guard and tips for keeping a PTO guard and shaft in good condition.
Hard copies of the leaflet are available for free by calling HSENI on: 0800 0320 121 or you can download a copy from the Stay Farm Safe website: www.hseni.gov.uk/farmsafe
The Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) have also produced a new YouTube video highlighting the importance of PTO safety in support of the campaign.
