The Safety in the Agricultural Industry: an European Theme

The Safety in the Agricultural Industry: an European Theme

The two MEP, Paolo de Castro and Elisabetta Gardini, have presented an interrogation in Bruxelles in order to speed up the process for a unique database for the entire EU community that reports in an analytical way the data of the agricultural machines accidents.

INAIL, the Italian National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work has registered an increment of accidents in the agricultural sector: in the 2015, the mortal accidents and the serious injuries were 486, with an increment of 14% compared to the 2014.

After the approval of the basic document for the census at european level of the incidents caused by agricultural machines – voted last may by a large majority of CEN TC 144 – the theme of the safety in the workplace in the agricultural field is discussed again at the initiative of Italy.

The MEP Paolo De Castro and Elisabetta Gardini have presented on the 24^th of last June, an interrogation to the European Parliament in order to incite the speed up the acquiescence of all the state members to the new law EN16831, that consists not only in a total census of the incidents but the adoption of a unique standard for the incidents classification, just like in the automotive sector.

The creation of an European database that gathers all the technical data of the modalities of every single incident, the characteristic of the machine involved, the environmental conditions of the profile of the user –  affirm Paolo De Castro and Elisabetta Gardini who follow accurately the themes linked to the agricultural mechanization and the safety in the workplace – that is important for the purposes of the phenomenon and of a prevention politics.

The quality of the motor pool, the competence of the operators and the respect of the safety procedures are fundamental elements to mitigate a phenomenon that in Italy cause an increasing concern. In the 2015 the mortal and serious incidents cause by agricultural machines – according to the data anticipated by the INAIL Observatory about the accidents in the agricultural and forestry field – have been 486 in Italy (281 serious injured and 205 victims), with an increment of 59 cases compared to 2014 (+14%).

THE main cause of these accidents is due to the fall of tractor (60% of these cases), instead percentages more restrained (about 10%, according to INAIL’s statistics of 2014) are caused by rototillers, motor hoes and chainsaws. Of particular interest – that the INAIL Observatory is going to present – will be the data related to the geographical distribution and the age of the operators involved in the accidents.

The statistics of 2014 demonstrate that the age of the operator resulted as a determining factor. The 67% of the operator over 50 were involved in serious and mortal accidents, and this confirm that an excessive confidence with the machines and a less attention paid to the safety procedures can represent a serious risk factor.