Longford Purchasing Group (LPG) has negotiated on behalf of 100 farmers in the midlands region to receive Bare-Co replacement drive shaft covers at a reduced price as part of a farm safety initiative.

The correct guarding of PTO drive shafts plays a crucial role in the safe use of farm machinery.

The primary objective of LPG is to secure savings in the purchase of farm inputs, including meal, fertilizer, animal medicine, farm plastic, insurance, banking services and telecoms.

Following a farm safety talk at one of its monthly meetings, the committee decided to undertake an initiative to make the farms of its members safer.

Chairman of the group Peter Maguire said that the replacement cover idea came about following a demonstration of the Bare-Co cover to members by Vincent Nally from Irish Rural Link (IRL).

Vincent has co-ordinated the farm safety mentor programme, a pilot farm safety initiative taking place in the midlands.

Clarke Machinery, New Inn, Cavan, came on board and agreed to special support pricing.

The LPG group itself also contributed to the cost of the covers, making it a worthwhile programme for all members to engage in, according to Peter.

Commitment

“With just over 100 members in the group, we have secured a commitment that each member in turn would promote and demonstrate the covers to at least three of their friends and neighbours.

“So we are potentially going to see in excess of 400 farmers being reached with this initiative,” said Peter.

Vincent Nally, IRL, said: “Awareness on farm safety is quite strong among farmers. However, the huge challenge of triggering behavioural change is harder to crack.

“We know from research that, when an individual undertakes an activity once and sees the merits of doing it, they have no difficulty repeating the process indefinitely. The beauty of the Bare-Co replacement cover is its simplicity, its universal fitting capability and how user-friendly it is in terms of assembly.”