The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Farmers face ban from their tractor seats
Farmers could be allowed to spend as little as half an hour each day in their tractors because of EU rules some fear will bring the industry to a standstill.
Limits on how long workers can be exposed to vibrations from their machines will come into force for agriculture and forestry operations next summer.
The “whole-body vibration” restrictions have already been branded health and safety “gone crazy” by one Scottish MEP amid warnings they could bankrupt some farmers.
Farmers could be allowed to spend as little as 30 minutes a day in their tractors under new EU rules which some industry leaders fear will bring agriculture to a standstill.
Limits on how long workers can be exposed to vibrations from their machines will come into effect for the agricultural and forestry industries next July.
OneScottishMEPhit out last night saying health and safety had gone crazy.
The whole-body vibration ( WBV) restrictions would cut the time farmers spend in a tractor to just three hours per day.
But last night opponents of the scheme warned that a farmer who is ploughing could reach his daily vibration limit within half an hour. Andone leadingMEP is warning that the proposals could bankrupt some farm businesses.
Agriculture would have been the worst-hit by the rules – introduced in 2005 – with farmers limited to just two or three hours per day in machinery.
However, the industry successfully won a nineyear delay to give businesses time to comply with it.
That exemption runs out in 2014 – and while the technology used in vehicles has moved on dramatically, there are still major concerns about the impact the rules will have.
Simon Bull, managing director of the CastleGroup – health and safety experts tasked with devising pads that measure vibrations going through workers – says the WBV limits, if strictly enforced, would leave farmers unable to plough their fields.
He said: “Depending on exactly what they are doing, a tractor being driven across a rutted field produces the highest level of vibrations according to the regulations.
“You are looking at half an hour to an hour max be- fore they reach the limit value.
“There is very little you can do about this in terms of seating. If you imagine a tractor bouncing side to side and forwards and backwards, it is very difficult to design a seat that moves independently of that because it is such a violent movement.”
Struan Stevenson, the Scottish Tory MEP, fears the rules could push many rural firms over the edge.
He said: “At this time of year, when there is good weather, farmers have to work 15 or 16-hour days to get the harvest in. That’s just the way it is.
“It would be ludicrous to stop these people working because of Brussels bureaucracy. We are literally going to bankrupt farmers.
“This is health and safety gone crazy. This would result in farmers working a couple of hours, then having topay someonetocome in and do another couple, and then possibly someone else.
“It would render many rural businesses unviable.”
The European Commission proposed the directive on the belief that exposure to too much vibration can cause medical problems.
But the agricultural industry claimed there was no proven link.
NFUScotlandcommunications director Bob Carruth said he hoped the EU would be “pragmatic” about the introduction of the rules.
“Whole-body vibration is an issue for some vehicles used in farming, such as combines and tractors. But there is a lot of suspension used in the seats of these vehicles now.
“I hope that Europe and the Health and Safety Executive are pragmatic about their approach to these rules – and that they do not tie farmers up in red tape.”
A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “Whole-body vibration can have debilitating and often life-changing health implications, particularly through back pain.
“It was recognised that agriculture and forestry industries have unique challenges, which is why they had an additional nine years’ transition to comply with the regulations.”