News Contractor at Work
NAAC releases COVID-19 guidance factsheet for all contractors

The National Association of Agricultural Contractors (NAAC), an organization for agricultural contractors in the U.K., made its COVID-19 guidance document public to try and keep the industry and contractors safe amid the global pandemic.

The guidance document provides a list of precautions workplaces can take, such as allowing workers to work from home wherever possible or boosting sanitation efforts within the workplace. The document also provides a list of U.K. employer resources to help support workers that get sick and need to self-isolate.

Access the NAAC COVID-19 Guidance Document here.

“It is vital that the industry can work together and it is no longer appropriate to limit important information, as we also need farmers to read this guidance to try and keep themselves, staff and contractors safe in the current crisis,” said Jill Hewitt, NAAC’s CEO, said in a released statement.

For contractors, it is not as easy to work from home. NAAC estimated that more than 90 per cent of U.K. farmers use a contractor and will not be able to manage without their services in the coming months. Farmers employ contractors for a number of key operations such as drilling, spraying, mobile feed mixing and even sheep shearing.

Hewitt emphasizes that the guidance document encourages working with farmers to take all necessary precautions and avoiding direct contact when possible.

“Whilst many farmers can remain ‘home-working’, contractors will need to move about, particularly following the desperately wet autumn, and it will be vital to many farmers that they can still access contractor’s specialist services and labour – particularly if farm staff need time off. It will be critical to share resources and work together to get crops in the ground and maintain high standards of animal welfare,” Hewitt added.