Farm accidents claim four lives in three weeks

[Jason PaceWard]

I've just been reading the latest Farmers Weekly Magazine and saw the article 'Farm accidents claim four lives in three weeks' which I found quite shocking. I there a way to make farming safer? Or do you just accept the risks? I'd be interested in peoples thoughts....

 

[jellybean]

Getting out of bed in the morning is a risk, so is staying there. Everything is relative.

 

[Bury the Trash]

Already thought of on here, duplicating threads.

Things that would improve farm safety ?

This industry has a tragic safety record, what can we all do that may improve this ? lets use this thread for suggestions ? some maybe unpopular with others (I know mine will be !) but surely we can’t continue watching so many loose their life’s trying to produce a bit of food my top 3...

thefarmingforum.co.uk

@Bald Rick if you are going to be a mod then do (and post comment on) something useful, there's a good chap.

 

[Robt]

I've just been reading the latest Farmers Weekly Magazine and saw the article 'Farm accidents claim four lives in three weeks' which I found quite shocking. I there a way to make farming safer? Or do you just accept the risks? I'd be interested in peoples thoughts....

From a professional point of view as someone who works for an insurance company or as a forum member who wants to help promote farm safety through sharing of advice and helpful tips???????????????

 

[Bury the Trash]

There is one thing that has caught me out time and time again, and that is implements being awkward to unhook.

we have 2 sprayers and i have modified both with addedd steel to allow them to be unhitched easier and not needing a pallet or 2 to sit on .
they dont look quite as pretty but boy are they safer and quicker to dettach /attach/leave in hte shed.

the angle they now both settle at when lowered to the ground is also allowed for so that the top link doesn't have to be adjusted length wise to easily unhook.

sprayers and fert spreaders tipping back over wont happen now as I've had happen in the past.

Post knocker ,what an asso of a thing that is or was until i added counter balance to stop it being horrendously light /heavy one side and i have built a gantry for it to rest against when unhitched with a rope or strap holding it in place.

I suppose machinery is built to a price but come of it do spare a thought for those actually using it in real life, its not just about keeping new pto guards on them.

and no I'm not putting up any more pics of my useful real life practical (not fancy shiny paint and stickers )modifications unless I'm paid

Machinery designers need a kick up their big arses sometimes.

 

[dowcow]

Bag of seed arrived with the two lifting loops tied together, presumably to allow the smaller bags of seed to be stacked on top and then the whole lot wrapped up with cellophane. Chucked the small bags off and lifted through what appeared to be a loop not realising the setup in the gloomy barn in the dawn light, as big bag had arrived on a pallet. Got it just off the pallet and backed up a meter or two and the tie joining the lifting loops snapped and the bag is on the floor. No harm done, go to lift this time from the actual loops, and manoeuvre and lift it above the drill.

I can't get the thought out of my head what would have happened if the tie hadn't snapped until a minute later, hoisted up above the drill with someone trying to untie the string at the bottom. That poor girl up in Scotland I think it was. I can't help wonder if this sort of setup led to that accident.

This wasn't caused by the proper lifting straps failing... this was because they had been joined together appearing like a lifting point but not actually being a lifting point.

Is there a correct procedure for opening these bags of seed without needing to be under them in some way? Neighbour has always used a hand held bucket to scoop seed from big bags off a trailer into his drill.

 

[Cowabunga]

Don’t know about seed but we use a sickle modified with a long steam-pipe handle to open fertiliser bags standing safely to the side. It needs sharpening every 60 to 100 bags opened to minimise the effort required. No stretching over the hopper side and reaching under the raised bag to open them with a penknife allowed under any circumstanced and the boom stops on the skid steer engaged every time without exception in case a pipe bursts.

 

[dowcow]

A blade on a stick is one of my very next intentions for fertiliser anyway. Someone mentioned an old combine knife welded to a pole too. I hate the job of opening em with a knife.

 

[Cowabunga]

A blade on a stick is one of my very next intentions for fertiliser anyway. Someone mentioned an old combine knife welded to a pole too. I hate the job of opening em with a knife.

I did use a combine section for one season many years ago but found that it didn’t stick up enough for the far end and to cut through the centre seams. Get a new sickle from your co-op and convert your old one to a bag opener. Use a good strong pipe because you may use the hopper as a lever for ease of use.

 

[Cowabunga]

A blade on a stick is one of my very next intentions for fertiliser anyway. Someone mentioned an old combine knife welded to a pole too. I hate the job of opening em with a knife.

Don’t do it. Opening with a knife is just asking for an accident when it can so easily be avoided. I’ve used the long handled sickle for more than 30 years. Almost since the first big bags became available and on dumpies too.

 

[dowcow]

Get a new sickle from your co-op and convert your old one to a bag opener.

I think the old one is a bit of an antique my great grandfather probably used, and now my mother uses in the garden, so she would be upset if it went missing. I seem to think there was an old turnip knife or slashook around that just needed a new shaft... might do the job

 

[Kiwi Pete]

We just use a couple of metre length of alloy tubing, small hacksaw slot near one end, and one of those replaceable stanley/craft knife type blades in the slot.
A tap each side of the blade with a centrepunch holds it in place, and easy enough to swap the blades because the alloy is so malleable. For all we do with big bags

 

[Ivorbiggun]

H&S on farms is a complete joke. Farmers doing it the quickest cheapest way.
one thing I’ve noticed recently as tractors get bigger is the size of the front linkage attachments being used. ie hoppers, tanks, weight blocks etc. How are you supposed to see coming out of a farm gateway/ t junction. I saw a sprayer with front mounted tank in our local dealers the other day which was shocking, so I roughly stepped it out and it was 7.5 metres from the drivers seat to the front of the tank. An accident waiting to happen.
Just goes to show farmers don’t give a toss about the guy who has to drive it or other road users.
yes you can say it’s the maufactuter’s fault for building the thing but it was marked up as sold, if farmers didn’t buy them they wouldn’t bother making it.
untill h&s and the police get more involved as to what goes on on farms things will only get worse.

 

[tinsheet]

Getting out of bed in the morning is a risk, so is staying there. Everything is relative.

As he says!

 

[Lofty1984]

H&S on farms is a complete joke. Farmers doing it the quickest cheapest way.
one thing I’ve noticed recently as tractors get bigger is the size of the front linkage attachments being used. ie hoppers, tanks, weight blocks etc. How are you supposed to see coming out of a farm gateway/ t junction. I saw a sprayer with front mounted tank in our local dealers the other day which was shocking, so I roughly stepped it out and it was 7.5 metres from the drivers seat to the front of the tank. An accident waiting to happen.
Just goes to show farmers don’t give a toss about the guy who has to drive it or other road users.
yes you can say it’s the maufactuter’s fault for building the thing but it was marked up as sold, if farmers didn’t buy them they wouldn’t bother making it.
untill h&s and the police get more involved as to what goes on on farms things will only get worse.

Should be a camera fitted as standard on anything that sticks out the front a certain length in my opinion

 

[Shutesy]

H&S on farms is a complete joke. Farmers doing it the quickest cheapest way.
one thing I’ve noticed recently as tractors get bigger is the size of the front linkage attachments being used. ie hoppers, tanks, weight blocks etc. How are you supposed to see coming out of a farm gateway/ t junction. I saw a sprayer with front mounted tank in our local dealers the other day which was shocking, so I roughly stepped it out and it was 7.5 metres from the drivers seat to the front of the tank. An accident waiting to happen.
Just goes to show farmers don’t give a toss about the guy who has to drive it or other road users.
yes you can say it’s the maufactuter’s fault for building the thing but it was marked up as sold, if farmers didn’t buy them they wouldn’t bother making it.
untill h&s and the police get more involved as to what goes on on farms things will only get worse.

One of the first things I did was fit a 3 camera system to the front tank and mounted sprayer system I used to use. 2 on the front one looking left one right for pulling out at junctions, worked really well, and one on the back for visibility round the yard. Cost less than £100!

 

[Hfd Cattle]

Why are fert spinners such an ass to put on ....I'm not a 'large person' but getting in between the back wheel and hopper is flopping awkward ......or is it me ?

 

[snarling bee]

H&S on farms is a complete joke. Farmers doing it the quickest cheapest way.
one thing I’ve noticed recently as tractors get bigger is the size of the front linkage attachments being used. ie hoppers, tanks, weight blocks etc. How are you supposed to see coming out of a farm gateway/ t junction. I saw a sprayer with front mounted tank in our local dealers the other day which was shocking, so I roughly stepped it out and it was 7.5 metres from the drivers seat to the front of the tank. An accident waiting to happen.
Just goes to show farmers don’t give a toss about the guy who has to drive it or other road users.
yes you can say it’s the maufactuter’s fault for building the thing but it was marked up as sold, if farmers didn’t buy them they wouldn’t bother making it.
untill h&s and the police get more involved as to what goes on on farms things will only get worse.

IMO the problem on the roads is not the farm traffic, its all the others driving too fast, don't know the width of their vehicles, can't reverse, and ignore warning signs/lights/escort vehicles, and generally completely inconsiderate. And that includes cyclists on Strava.

 

[jellybean]

One of the big problems with machinery is that manufacturers have to keep the price down if farmers are to buy it but they are also obliged to sell a safe machine. The more "foolproof" you make a machine the more it will cost and you will never eliminate all the "fools" who will try to operate it without even reading the instruction manual. If you have ever gone through the process of CE marking a piece of machinery you will know what I mean.
In doing some research for a machine of my own it became apparent that some manufacturers, having produced a very detailed set of instructions and pointed out all the potential hazards, are also stating that despite all their efforts the user MUST do their own risk assessment of all the procedures before using the machine, effectively transferring responsibility to the operator. Whether or not this would stand up in court I do not know.

In my view this is as it should be. You are being reminded that in reality everybody is responsible for their own actions. As has been stated by others on here if you look around a machine and decide it is dangerous and you cannot see a way of eliminating the danger, don't use it. In these days of willingness to sue somebody or anybody for the results of your own stupidity you can see why it is common thinking to rely on that rather than doing some critical thinking and staying aware.

Accidents will always happen, I have had plenty myself including one which brought me literally to within one inch of losing my life in a machine. Do I blame anybody else? Absolutely not.

 

[quattro]

I use a old brush shaft, cut a slot in the end slide a knife section in and bolt together
sharpen with grinder so it’s sharp right to the handle
good thing is you can cut either pulling it or pushing away from you