Gyeonggi-do Fire Department Focuses on Agricultural Machinery Safety Accidents from March to May

Firefighters are conducting rescue operations at the site of an agricultural machinery accident.

One out of every three agricultural machinery accidents involving equipment such as power tillers and tractors occurs during the spring farming season (March to May). In particular, accidents involving seniors aged 60 and over accounted for more than 70% of the total, with accidents concentrated in mixed urban-rural areas such as Hwaseong, Paju, Anseong, and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province.

According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters on the 5th, the number of agricultural machinery safety accidents in the province was 84 in 2020, 52 in 2021, and 65 in 2022, totaling 201 cases over the past three years. The number of casualties was recorded as 79 in 2020, 40 in 2021, and 58 in 2022.

Looking at the seasonal occurrence over the past three years, 71 cases occurred during the spring farming season from March to May, accounting for 35% of the total. This is higher than the 57 cases during the autumn harvest season (September to November). By day of the week, Monday (17%) had the most accidents, and by time of day, the highest number of accidents occurred between 3 and 5 p.m. (22%).

By age group, those aged 60 and over accounted for 72% of all accidents. By machinery type, power tillers were the most common with 82 cases (41%), followed by tractors with 62 cases (31%), forklifts and excavators with 6 cases each (3%), and combines with 4 cases (2%).

Regarding accident types, single-vehicle agricultural machinery accidents accounted for the majority with 168 cases (84%). Accidents involving agricultural machinery versus vehicles (19 cases) and agricultural machinery versus people (12 cases) followed.

By cause, overturning and tipping accounted for 61 cases, entrapment for 51 cases, crushing for 24 cases, and traffic accidents for 23 cases. The accident location was general roads in 50 cases, accounting for 25% of the total.

By region, Hwaseong had the highest number with 38 cases, followed by Paju (19 cases), Anseong (18 cases), and Pyeongtaek (17 cases).

Jo Seon-ho, head of the Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated, "The age group of people using agricultural machinery is high, and the fatality rate of agricultural machinery accidents is more than 11 times higher than that of traffic accidents." He urged, "Please be sure to install safety devices such as luminous reflectors or steering lights to prevent rear-end collisions involving agricultural machinery."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.