After having a close shave with a roof light on the farm, Jimmy Barlow decided to do something about it.

Jimmy is from a beef and sheep farm in Glinsk, Co Galway. Recently, while carrying out work on the roof of a shed he accidently put his foot through a roof skylight. He was lucky that it wasn’t worse, but the incident played on his mind.

Eventually, he got the idea to erect some sort of cage to prevent more serious accidents happening in this way on his farm.

Jimmy placed steel mesh, cut to size, beneath the sky lights to break the fall of anybody who accidentally walked on the roof light. “Maybe it’s not a complete solution to the problem, but it will save a person from falling,” he explained.

The steel used is reinforcing steel from the building industry. It comes in 16ft by 8ft sheets and bars are 6mm thick and the squares are about 8in. The mesh is stapled to the roof timbers.

“We all know of people who have got killed or badly injured falling through roof lights on buildings,” said Jimmy. He believes the Department of Agriculture should seriously consider designing something similar and making it part of the specifications for all farm building skylights to reduce serious accidents on farms. Jimmy said it didn’t take long to do the six roof skylights on his farm and he hopes more people will take up the idea.

What’s your idea? Have you done anything on your farm to make life safer and easier? If so, please send pictures and information to pvarley@farmersjournal.ie or text your pictures to the Irish Farmers Journal on 00 353 (0) 86 836 6465 via WhatsApp or normal text message. Entries featured in the Irish Farmers Journal will get a €50 One4All voucher.