Farm Safety Series: Farmers urged to put phones away while driving

Industry must stop tolerating the ‘reckless behaviour' of using mobile phones while driving tractors, quad bikes and heavy machinery. The stark warning comes after mobile phones continue to contribute not just to road traffic incidents but life-changing and life-ending injuries. Drivers were four times more likely to crash, injure or kill themselves if using any phone, hand-held or hand-free, a report by the World Health Organisation outlined. Brake, the road safety charity, added hands-free reactions were 30 per cent slower than reaction times at the drink-drive limit. Stephanie Berkeley, Farm Safety Foundation manager, said farmers should not be talking, tweeting or using social media platforms such as TikTok when behind the wheel. "Another worrying development has been the emergence of videos on social media featuring young farmers performing dangerous stunts while driving tractors, quad bikes and heavy machinery," she said. "One video showed what appears to be a race between three tractors on a public road, while another showed a man sitting on the front of a tractor as it drives through a field at speed."Is it not bad enough that we have lost 34 farm workers and seven members of the public in the past year due to incidents on-farm?"Why are we tolerating this reckless behaviour?" Negligent Institution of Occupational Safety and Health rural industries group chair Tina Morgan branded the actions of younger farmers posting videos of unsafe practices for likes and shares 'at best reckless and at worst grossly negligent'.She said: "A clampdown on TikTok use among tractor drivers is underway in Ireland with warnings that any driver found using social media on their mobile telephone should be sacked immediately," she said. "Not only are the drivers breaking the law, but they are also risking their lives and the lives of other road users."While the use of phones while operating vehicles on roads is a police matter, with road traffic legislation falling under police enforcement, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires safe systems to be in place when carrying out work activity.Those caught using a hand-held phone while driving face six penalty points and a £200 fine, but those who have only passed their test in the last two years will lose their licence. Question Jill Hewitt, National Association of Agricultural Contractors (NAAC) chief executive, added: "We must all question the sense of a driver in a highly visible, raised glass cab, trying to control a large, powerful tractor with one hand clapped on an ear on a call. "The NAAC would advise all its members to restrict even hands-free calls on the move." Evita van Gestel at NFU Mutual risk management services added it can be illegal to use a hands-free phone while driving."Depending upon the individual circumstances, drivers could be charged with ‘failing to have proper control of their vehicle'," she said. "In more serious cases, the use of any type of mobile phone could result in prosecution for careless or dangerous driving."The police may check phone records when investigating fatal and serious crashes to determine if use of a phone contributed to the crash."Employers who require staff to use any mobile phone while driving for work could be prosecuted if an investigation determined that such use of the phone contributed to a crash."Claims in the civil courts could also result."Ms Morgan highlighted some farmers have incorporated telephone and social media policies into their contracts of employment with employees aware that there is a risk of losing their jobs if they break the rules around telephone and social media use while at work.

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Farm Safety Series: Farmers urged to put phones away while driving

Industry must stop tolerating the ‘reckless behaviour’ of using mobile phones while driving tractors, quad bikes and heavy machinery.

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Farm Safety Series: Farmers urged to put phones away while driving

Industry must stop tolerating the ‘reckless behaviour’ of using mobile phones while driving tractors, quad bikes and heavy machinery.

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