An Irish farmer took to social media to issue a farm safety alert over following best practises when it comes to operating machinery.
Pat O’Connor failed to follow machinery operators advice before travelling on a road in a tractor with a slurry tanker attached.
A fatality could have occurred due to Mr O’Connor not following standard protocol with power take off (PTO).
His farm safety alert reads as follows:
“Farm safety alert , machinery operators are always advised to turn off the engine of the machine they are working if they are using the power take off, I never did to be honest, wasting time turning on and off the engine I thought, last Friday I put on the vacuum tank , connected pto as normal, filled the tank , and while going to empty traveling along the road the pto came on of its own accord, The spring in the switch had worn out, leading to the power drive operating, I hate to think what would have happened if I had been caught up , something to watch out for, thanks to mike garahy for posting down the new switch, and to kayck for fitting it.”
