If someone was determined to not have a safety switch of any kind, you're right, it could be disabled the same as a seat switch. I was thinking along the lines of offering some degree of protection for those who recognize the need, yet still want more flexibility of operation.
Maybe even a switch that allowed the operator to choose between seat or lanyard, for those times when less experienced operators would be using the equipment.
The safety switches are getting a lot smarter. Combines have had a safety seat switch for probably the last 20 years that if the operator leaves the seat, the header shuts off within a few seconds. It is a good idea, as more than a few farmers have been drawn into a corn head or platform header while trying to unclog something while the machine was running (one of the situations where Darwinism probably should be allowed to run its course, sad as it is when a neighbor is lost).
The practical problem with this is if there are chains that need to be oiled or if a person needs to listen for a bad bearing, it is a two person job. One person to sit in the seat and another to perform the procedure. That is fine if you have two people, but lots of farmers are solo operators. The work-around was a heavy tool box set on the seat. Some farmers carried one in the cab for that purpose. Or some farmers just taped the switch shut or bypassed it.
But as I said, with the advent of computers running almost everything now, the computer is smart enough to know if the switch has been bypassed. The computer realizes if the switch is never open, likely it has been bypassed and at best throws a code or at worst will not let the header engage till the code is cleared.
