Motorists in Norwich are being advised to avoid the A47 near Little Melton due to a collision between a tractor and another vehicle.
The incident occurred at around 10:00a.m this morning (August 23) on the slip road of the A47 approaching Little Melton.
No injuries were reported from the collision and the tractor was righted by 12:30p.m.
The road has since reopened to traffic but some delays are still being reported.
Causes of farm accidents
Stress and fatigue have been identified as a key cause of farm accidents by researchers from the University of Aberdeen.
The NTSAg group from the University researched the role of non-technical skills in farming and in this project investigated ‘situation awareness’, broadly defined as ‘knowing what is happening around you’.
They found that lapses in situation awareness, related to stress and fatigue, were a main contributory factor in farming accidents.
This project is the first to look at the impact of stress and fatigue on situation awareness and safety in agriculture.
Agriculture is the most dangerous industry in the UK, measured by fatality and injury rate, and according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), farm deaths rose by 60% this year to a total of 34 fatalities – significantly higher than the five-year average.
Ilinca-Ruxandra Tone explained:
“We wanted to find out what the sources of stress and fatigue in farming are and how these factors might influence farmer safety.
“Moreover, we wanted to explore the link between stress and fatigue, situation awareness lapses and safety in farmers – something that no one has looked at until now.
We found consistently that farmers’ stress and fatigue can negatively affect their mental picture of what is going on which leads to accidents and incidents.
“This is hugely significant given that stress and fatigue are prevalent issues in agriculture, alongside more serious mental health issues, and our findings extend our knowledge to establish a link between stress and fatigue and situation awareness.”
