Evie farmer raises awareness for Farm Safety Week

A local farmer has spoken out about a workplace accident, in an effort to prevent something similar happening to others.

As part of the nation-wide campaign, Farm Safety Week, Michael Stevenson, from Evie, has talked about being badly injured in April last year, while working with livestock on his farm.

Mr Stevenson has said, since the accident, he has made changes to the way his farm operates in order to improve safety when working with cattle.

Talking about the accident, he said: “Usually you know when a cow is aggressive. In this case, she was a heifer, which tend to be less maternal than mature cows and did not appear wild

“She calved herself, but I thought her calf had not sucked, so went into the pen to get him to his feet and find milk. I was bent beside her when she suddenly turned, battering me on the ground.”

“I don’t have much recollection of what happened before and after the accident, but I’d managed to get over the gate, and shouted on my wife, who thankfully was nearby, to come and help me as I could hardly move.”

Mr Stevenson was taken to hospital, and it was soon realised that he had dislocated his hip and suffered two broken ribs.

He spent several days in hospital following an operation and treatment to his injuries.

Mr Stevenson has said the accident has made him more cautious when dealing with cattle and he has made some simple improvements which will ensure safe working practices on his farm — including self-locking gates on all pens and ensuring all newly calved cows are secured if they, or their calves require handling.

Farm Safety Week, which began on Monday and runs until tomorrow, is an annual event aimed at raising awareness of safe working practices in the agricultural sector.

It is run by the Farm Safety Partnership, a group made up of various organisations with stakes in the agricultural sector, including the Scottish Government and NFU Scotland.