Network Rail has launched a new campaign to remind farmers and their workers to take care at level-crossings during harvest time.
According to the rail authority, in the past five years there have been more than 100 near-miss incidents at level-crossings on farmland across Britain and four instances of trains hitting farm vehicles.
And last year the number of near-misses jumped to 22, from 15 the year before. The new campaign aims to remind farmers of safety rules, as well as providing farmers with safety information for workers and farm visitors. This includes an instructional booklet designed to be understood by foreign casual workers, which is available in various different languages.
“We know that harvest time is an extremely busy period for Britain’s farmers and that level-crossings can be used frequently by people who aren’t familiar with them. At the same time, an increase in casual workers who might not have English as a first language is an extra challenge,” said Network Rail level-crossing manager Robert Havercroft.
“We have produced easy-to-understand posters and booklets that can be used around a farm to remind people how to use crossings safely. Level-crossings can be confusing to people who aren’t used to using them, but by following a few simple rules people can learn how to cross them with safety and confidence. We hope this will help to prevent last year’s increase in incidents at farm level-crossings from becoming a trend.”
Farmers are being reminded to: use telephones at level-crossings to check that it is safe to cross; close the gates after going across the crossing; and to cross as quickly as possible, especially when moving livestock.
Network Rail said its network of 100 level-crossing managers will deliver the message locally.
NFU Scotland praised the campaign and urged farmers to take heed of its messages.
The union’s legal and technical policy manager, Gemma Thomson, said: “The statistics show that while accident numbers are fairly low, there have been a lot of near misses between agricultural traffic and trains.
“NFU Scotland urges all farmers to be aware of the dangers of using level crossings, and to adhere to the suggested critical safety rules.”