An Aberdeenshire farming family has hailed the benefits of introducing a hi-vis policy to the farm to prevent accidents around machinery and vehicles.
Ednie Farms, which is run by husband and wife team Peter Robertson and Dr Elaine Booth, put the policy in place in a bid to make the extensive arable, livestock, renewables and forestry enterprise near Peterhead safer.
Mr Robertson said he was spurred on to make changes at the farm after reading statistics which showed 37% of accidents on Scottish farms were cause by people being hurt by vehicles or machinery.
“I know in this area of at least two incidents recently where family members have been seriously injured by vehicles,” said Mr Robertson.
“I decided that to reduce the risk of that happening on our farms we needed to take action, and we put in place a hi-vis policy, where anyone, no matter their age or purpose, who comes onto the farm must wear a hi-vis jacket or hi-vis boiler suit.”
He said high-vis clothing was purchased for all farm staff, family members and visitors.
“We often work in challenging conditions – late into the night, in dark sheds, or at a pace to try and get jobs finished, and any small measures our industry can take to make their farms and crofts safer, is a huge step to reducing the accident and death toll that our industry has such a bad record of,” added Mr Robertson.
He said hi-vis clothing was inexpensive to buy.
“It really is a very simple, cost effective, but yet highly useful way of making our farms and working environment safer and I certainly think others should be considering implementing this policy on their farms,” he added.
The family is one of several taking part in Farm Safety Week, this week, to raise awareness of farm and croft safety across the UK.