Safety in agriculture, love for life
The FederUnacoma campaign to prevent accidents in the use of mechanical vehicles starts from EIMA in Bologna. Every year in Italy, 200 fatal accidents are recorded among the farmers, many of them caused by the tractor overturning. This toll could be significantly reduced. Not only by relying on European and national incentives for the purchase of new generation agricultural machinery equipped with the most advanced security systems, but also by investing in training
EIMA marks the start of the “Safety Campaign” of FederUnacoma, an initiative aimed at informing agricultural workers about the risks associated with the use of mechanical vehicles.
The initiative has four key actions: better use of public funds for the purchase of latest generation machines; implementation of the law on compulsory servicing of the oldest mechanical vehicles; market monitoring to prevent the marketing of vehicles produced in countries that do not comply with European safety rules; and lastly, technical training for operators and dissemination of a culture of safety.
The campaign involves the use of various tools, including printed advertising, websites, the dissemination of documentary videos and helpdesk activity for the industry operators, intevening on the topic that remains extremely topical.
There are over two million tractors on Italian farms. However, the average age of these machines is very high, averaing 30 years.
Consequently, in addition to having high consumptions and a high environmental impact, these vehicles have obsolete security systems.
The number of accidents at work with fatal outcomes averages 200 per year, and is due above all to the age of the vehicle fleet.
These tragedies could be avoided or significantly reduced. This could be achieved not only by using the European and national incentives provided for the purchase of the latest generation machines, but also by leveraging the awareness and training of operators in the sector. The president of FederUnacoma Alessandro Malavolti is convinced of this. As part of EIMA, he opened thursday 8th of november the presentation meeting of the “Safety Project” launched by the Federation.
This project will develop from December 2018 until October 2019, ending at the Agrilevante event in Bari. “We all have to work together, from FederUnacoma to Inail, on the culture of safety” Malavolti said, introducing the meeting which was also attended by Matteo Ansanelli (Copa/Cogeca), Vincenzo Laurendi (Department of Innovations and Safety Systems) and Roberto Zalambani (president of Unaga). “All together - continued Malavolti - we must train the operators, so that each of them, when he gets on his tractor, checks that all the safety devices are working perfectly”. The dramatic numbers that give the measure of the phenomenon of accidents also affect the imports of machines from countries, especially those of South East Asia, which do not have to comply with European and national safety standards. Today it seems more than ever necessary to renew the fleet (only 11% of tractors in operation in Italian fields are less than ten years old). The need for agricultural machinery, with the growth of agriculture, increases. However, in 2018 there will be only 19 thousand newly registered tractors, while the market for the purchase and sale of used vehicles, with an average age of twenty years, will count 37 thousand vehicles. On the safety front, FederUnacoma also notes the considerable delay in issuing the decrees implementing the ministerial provision that in 2015 ratified the obligation to inspect the machinery. These decrees should be issued by the Ministry of Transport in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture.
