(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Oh Jin-song = The Ministry of the Interior and Safety urged adherence to safety guidelines on the 16th to prevent safety accidents, including casualties, when using agricultural machinery in rural areas during the harvest season.
As the use of large agricultural machinery increases and the mechanization rate of farming (paddy rice 99.7%, upland crops 67.0%) rises, even minor oversights can lead to significant accidents.
Over the past three years (2021-2023), 3,439 accidents occurred while using agricultural machinery, resulting in 2,366 casualties (192 deaths and 2,174 injuries).
In October, the month of harvest, the number of accidents (451 cases) and casualties (316 people) caused by agricultural machinery was the highest throughout the year.
By cause, machinery jams accounted for the most incidents at 1,191 cases (34.6%), followed by overturning and tipping of agricultural machinery at 870 cases (25.3%), traffic accidents at 853 cases (24.8%), and falls and drops at 281 cases (8.2%).
The main locations of accidents were paddy fields and barns (1,366 cases, 39.7%) and roads, railways, and bridges (1,328 cases, 38.6%).
To prevent accidents with agricultural machinery, it is necessary to wear appropriate and simple clothing and a work cap, and to wear protective equipment to prevent hair or clothing from getting caught in the machinery. For machinery with rotating parts, models with safety covers should be used, and items such as towels that are easily caught in rotating parts should not be worn on the body.
When passing through narrow sections such as farm roads, slopes, and corners where agricultural machinery is prone to tipping over or overturning, the speed should be sufficiently reduced. When setting up and working on a slope, the condition of the ground should be checked, and the weight of the machinery should not be tilted to one side.
At night, lighting devices such as reflective plates should be attached to the back of the agricultural machinery.
When loading agricultural products onto the machinery, the width and length of the loading compartment should not be exceeded, and the height should be kept at an appropriate level and securely fastened to prevent the load from collapsing during movement.
dindong@yna.co.kr