As we are heading into harvest, I make no apology for banging on about safety again. Within our own membership, I am aware of serious accidents in recent months and it is vital that we are all extra vigilant. The latest farm stats revealed that we still have the dubious prize of highest industry rate of deaths per 100,000 – something that needs to change. I urge you all to take a few moments of time to listen to our brief video of James Bannister – a member who knows the human cost of life-changing injury and lessons need to be learnt. Please share it far and wide – with your family, staff and customers.
Whilst the year so far has thrown us all into a new way of living, with positives (living on Zoom and less travelling) and negatives (missing seeing everyone in real life), it has set the NAAC on a positive trajectory – putting us front and centre representing contractors throughout the pandemic. Our job is to maintain this momentum and we are now actively involved in several new groups, including the Government’s new Taskforce on Agricultural Productivity. This is a key alliance, reporting to Ministers, looking at funding, skills and infrastructure, amongst other targets. It is now a critical time to ensure that contractors are given the necessary access to finance and support to offer Government proactive solutions to environmental, technological and productivity challenges. The NAAC will be pushing this agenda hard on your behalf.
I hope that the Covid-19 crisis is starting to lift, but we must all remain vigilant as we move towards autumn. I don’t think anyone is certain what will happen as the nights shorten, but it is likely that there will be increased risk and we will be watching developments closely and be ready to act on member’s behalf if necessary.
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