Farmer Focus: Come home safe everyone
Dafydd Parry-Jones © Richard Stanton In recent months, several of our friends have been injured in farming accidents.
Some of their injuries were extensive and required surgical intervention, and they had to spend a period in hospital.
They were very fortunate that the emergency services were at hand, and help was on the scene as soon as possible.
See also: Editor’s View: Don’t let familiarity breed contempt for farm safety
About the author
Over the past 20 years, we have been very fortunate to receive the critically important services of Wales Air Ambulance.
This is a charity air ambulance service providing free, lifesaving helicopter and emergency medical services for the critically ill and injured in Wales.
More recently, though, there has been a lot of concern that the service will be downgraded.
It has helped many local farmers and residents in rural areas in times of emergency, flying them to the necessary specialised units much more quickly and efficiently than these journeys would take by road.
I’m glad to say that for the past decade or so we’ve paid a monthly subscription from our farm bank account to this charity to maintain its valuable service, as we never know when we will need it.
During our annual Montgomeryshire YFC field day at the end of September, I had the privilege of judging the farm safety competition.
This tested members’ ability to complete maintenance and tasks on a tractor and quad bike, demonstrating health and safety in all aspects.
I was fortunate to compete in this competition myself, at Wales and UK level, more than 25 years ago.
To prepare for the competition, we had rigorous training, to ensure we were up to date with the necessary requirements.
Many of the points learned have stayed with me through my working life, and hopefully helped me prevent accidents or long-term damage to my hips and back from continuously jumping out of tractors.
I certainly haven’t been immune to my fair share of bumps and bruises over the years; like many other farmers, I’ve damaged fingers – mine caused by a fencing accident.
We owe it to our families, the ones that are affected the most, to promise to return home alive and well at the end of our working day. Cadwch yn saff (stay safe).