NFU Mutual launches free guide to Covid-19 living
Rural insurer NFU Mutual has launched a free corona virus safety service to help farmers through what they say looks set to be one of the most challenging periods for the industry since the Second World War.
The insurer yesterday announced that it had drawn together an 85-strong virtual field force of farm health and safety experts to provide the information farmers need to protect themselves and farm workers from Covid-19 through the busiest period in the farming year.
With the industry still having the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK the Mutual said it feared that many of these risks could be exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Farmers are time-poor and it can be overwhelming trying to navigate through the web of health and safety information available and knowing what to trust,” said Ian Jewitt, managing director from NFU Mutual Risk Management Services (RMS) which is spearheading the initiative.
“The new RMS Covid-19 service connects farmers to real specialists who can listen to concerns and provide practical solutions to these challenges so that farmers can be confident that they can stay safe this summer.”
Jewitt said the service, which launched yesterday, would be available to help with coronavirus protection for a wide range of agribusinesses ranging from farmers and growers, packers to hauliers, food manufacturers to retailers, as they adapted their working practices.
He said that the service would be available to a wide range of agribusinesses ranging from farmers and growers, packers to hauliers, food manufacturers to retailers, as they adapted their working practices.
Farmers would make an intital request on-line to receive a call from a consultant to discuss the Covid-19 concerns their businesses are dealing with.
“They will also be able to download online resources about maintaining social distancing at work and how to manage contractors, visitors and new staff who may have little or no experience of agriculture to help them understand the hazards present on farms,” said Jewitt.
Farmers, he stated, were currently under intense pressure to keep the nation fed – and there was a desperate need for specific information on how they could keep themselves, their families, employees and customers safe from coronavirus during the busiest time in the farming year.
“Bringing in extra workers at harvest now presents huge challenges – from how to regularly wash your hands when you’re working in a field to how you sanitise machinery so someone else can use it, “he said. “Businesses are also providing their services in new ways, from offering drive-thru farm shops to delivering goods directly to customers.
“We want to encourage businesses to take advantage of this free service to get our customers back on their feet and put them in the safest position for the future.
“Coronavirus has made us all rethink how we put safety first, to protect ourselves and others – and the same goes for risks on the farm. By adopting good practices now, we can help the industry to come out better, safer and stronger when the pandemic is over.”