James Herrick: Don’t be embarrassed to take time off
© Tim Scrivener “Well… it will just have to wait.”
That’s what I said to myself recently when contemplating whether or not I should get away from the farm for a few days.
We’ve all been there, haven’t we – weighing up if a couple of days away, a meal out or an evening in front of the fire should be sacrificed for a few hours in the workshop or getting some loose ends tied up.
See also: James Herrick – discrimination still rife in farming
Those of us working in agriculture are notorious workaholics and, although there’s nothing wrong with that, sometimes you just have to know when it’s time for a break.
Major risk
A recent survey by The Yellow Wellies Foundation, a charity that promotes farm safety, concluded that 69% of farmers believed tiredness was a “major risk” to farm safety – a statistic that is as shocking as it is believable.
A quick online search for “the UK’s most dangerous jobs” will reveal that 16.4% of all workplace fatalities between 2015 and 2020 took place on farms (construction was the only industry that had a worse record) – a statistic we should not be proud of.
Especially when you consider that just 1% of the UK population work in agriculture, compared to the 6.6% who work in construction.
This means you are more than six-times more likely to suffer a fatal injury in agriculture than construction and 20 times more
likely than across all industries.
So as to the question about “what might the neighbours think?” if you’re taking a break. Well, does it really matter?
Dangers of over-working
Our industry has a tendency to glorify overworking as if it should be celebrated when, quite frankly, it’s dangerous.
From experience, I know that a regular change of scenery has made me a faster, more efficient and safer worker. I’m physically and mentally healthier for it and, above all else, the work still gets done.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting tiredness is the cause of all farm accidents, nor that taking a break is the ultimate antidote.
But I do know that it will go a long way towards helping us all keep safe in the workplace.