Technological innovation helping to meet safety needs

Safety is at the forefront at EIMA International. During the event numerous meetings were held on the topic of farming accidents. Accidents are due not only to the operator's inexperience or distraction but also to the obsolescence of the machinery fleet. INAIL's efforts for safety

The issue of technological innovation is closely related to that of farm safety. In Italy, the primary sector, as reported by INAIL, is one of the production sectors most exposed to the risk of accidents caused by the use of agricultural machinery. Every year – states the National Institute for Insurance against Workplace Accidents – on average more than 100 fatal events are reported, due in most cases to the sideways overturning of the mechanical vehicle. Such accidents, the Institute points out, are not only caused by the operator's inexperience and distraction, or by working conditions that can sometimes become particularly complex, but also due to the obsolescence of the Italian machinery fleet. The topic, of great current interest and for its ethical and social implications, was addressed and discussed during the latest EIMA International event. During the five days of the Bologna event, technicians, trade associations and manufacturers took stock of the situation, suggesting possible intervention strategies aimed at both preventing accidents and reducing damage. Italy's fields – INAIL explained – have 2.1 million tractors in operation with an average age of 26 years, registered in the late 90s, when many of the systems in use today were not yet available. On the other hand, in the last 25 years few sectors have experienced such rapid technological evolution as the agricultural machinery sector, which has made it possible to reduce the number of work-related accidents in the primary sector. In fact, one of the drivers of this evolution, together with the need to increase productivity and sustainability, has been (and still is today) the imperative to save human lives, directing the investments of manufacturers towards the development of active and passive prevention systems. In addition to being technologically outdated, that is, lacking modern devices to protect the operator, tractors that are over 25 years old are also unreliable since, despite a law dating back to 2012, in Italy there is still no requirement to regularly inspect agricultural vehicles. The consequences that this entails for the safety of using machinery are obvious.

The efforts of the manufacturers to develop of increasingly advanced solutions are accompanied by those of INAIL. The Institute not only supports research by agro-mechanical companies, especially regarding the application of AI-based devices and the use of IT tools that assist farmers with risk assessment, but – as was pointed out at EIMA – it encourages, with ad hoc calls for campaigns, the replacement of obsolete tractors with latest-generation models. New and more innovative vehicles are also safer.