Farm accidents claim four lives in three weeks

[Mark Hatton]

Four of the last five Notifiable Agricultural Fatalities from the HSE involved machinery.
Three of them involved trailers.
One involved an ATV.

 

[Chae1]

Not sure if been mentioned already but another factor with bags is standing between loader and spreader. Ie potential crush zone. I speak from personal experience. I've mentioned what happened in another thread but I got trapped between manitou and spreader. Basically when weight came off wheels after bags emptied forklift rolled forward. I was shaking out bag and it came forward and trapped me against spreader.


On my new spreader I specified ladders on both sides so i don't have to go between them. Also always keep your phone on you at all times. I didn't and it took a while to get help.

 

[Bury the Trash]

I agree H&S is a big issue, the fact its being talked about is only a positive thing irrespective of where on the forum its being posted. Once we've decided what we are going to do as regards a H&S section we'll move move threads. I'm sure @Chris F and @Clive will update as soon as a decision has been made, until then lets keep up the discussion.

Talk is cheap.
like ive said in my posts , ive already modified poorly designed by the manufacturer implements so the set down safer and are easier to rehitch and we use a bag crane which mean the 'bag man' is not under anything .

Please remind us what are your quantifications on the subject, the practical job of farming , that is ? that qualifies your comments..?

 

[Ffermer Bach]

It is down to money. There are bag lifters out there with automatic cutters on them, if the user is prepared to buy.

Home - Agriweld

Innovation in Agriculture Agriweld is built on 30 years of experience in manufacturing Agricultural Machinery. We pride ourselves on innovating to the highest standard through our 100% in-house design and manufacture utilising the latest technology as we strive for constant perfection. Vacancy...

www.agriweld.co.uk

I have seen a photo of a fertliser spreader with the pyramid knife mounted on top of the hopper, I am sure it would not be difficult to make, then all you would have to do is lower the bag onto the "spike" then lift up to empty the bag, to be honest I am surprised it isn't commercially available

 

[Bury the Trash]

I have seen a photo of a fertliser spreader with the pyramid knife mounted on top of the hopper, I am sure it would not be difficult to make, then all you would have to do is lower the bag onto the "spike" then lift up to empty the bag, to be honest I am surprised it isn't commercially available

but that's not relevant to seed bags which are also emptied into hoppers.,it would interfere with the hopper cover as well, theory is one thing , practice is quite another.

 

[betweenthelines]

And since lockdown ended, there's been folks wandering around everywhere . In and out the yard....around the buildings.... This wouldn't be tolerated on a building site, but cos it's the countryside that's OK. I've ordered 2 x private signs to try and keep numpties out of the garden, 4x beware farm machinery signs for the yard, and whilst at it 3 fragile roof signs. 9x £12.95 each = £116 squid. Complete waste of time, but hopefully arse covered if ramblist gets impaled on a bale spike.
Also ordered a new tilt ram for forklift cos I didn't think it safe to repair the old one ( previous owner and main dealer I bought it from thought it acceptable, but that's another story )
Another £1k. So 10 small items, and 10% of the profit from my small arable farm gone.
Health and safety doesn't cost much..... What a load of fudgeing tosh.
These threads get my goat. Main cause of the issues ignored, whilst folks waffle on about farmers " poor attitude ". I honestly don't know anyone that gets up in the morning and says " You know what, I think I'll stick my head in a straw chopper and see what happens ".
After reading the tosh on here, I might be tempted though.

£116 on signage, the new ram is to replace a damaged one-hardly a H&S expense! Perhaps a bit more "safety" input into purchasing decisions would have helped.

You might get a more balanced view if you were to have a tour of a factory (no public access but loads of signs similar to those you have bought) or a building site (ditto for the signs + night security and lots of 8ft fencing panels to reduce unwanted visitors.

The most likely person to be injured on a farm is the farmer or a family member or a farm employee- I'd say a hundred quid or so (of tax deductible) signage is great value in protecting myself, or someone I know.

 

[Mark Hatton]

It is down to money. There are bag lifters out there with automatic cutters on them, if the user is prepared to buy.

Home - Agriweld

Innovation in Agriculture Agriweld is built on 30 years of experience in manufacturing Agricultural Machinery. We pride ourselves on innovating to the highest standard through our 100% in-house design and manufacture utilising the latest technology as we strive for constant perfection. Vacancy...

www.agriweld.co.uk

That looks like a brilliant bit of kit!

 

[Cowabunga]

My sickle’s claim to fame is that it was once featured in the farm invention’s magazine. The same sickle, which had already done many year’s service, is still used today.

It was remiss of me not to mention the name of the magazine and that it has its own section on this forum…. Practical Farm Ideas...

Practical Farm Ideas Magazine

Farm developed methods that raise agricultural efficiency

thefarmingforum.co.uk

 

[7610 super q]

£116 on signage, the new ram is to replace a damaged one-hardly a H&S expense! Perhaps a bit more "safety" input into purchasing decisions would have helped.

You might get a more balanced view if you were to have a tour of a factory (no public access but loads of signs similar to those you have bought) or a building site (ditto for the signs + night security and lots of 8ft fencing panels to reduce unwanted visitors.

The most likely person to be injured on a farm is the farmer or a family member or a farm employee- I'd say a hundred quid or so (of tax deductible) signage is great value in protecting myself, or someone I know.

Jesus wept. It was bought because it was cheap. I wonder why ? That's right no money in the job. 20 years ago I'd have gone for quality over price, but times have changed.
Anyway, ram could have been repaired again, but I deemed it not safe to do so. Looked like the cap had blown off at some point, and has been welded back on. Only visible once it had been removed from the headstock. I'll be keeping the machine for a long time, so I'll be spending money on it every year as and when till I'm happy with it.
You seem to have tried to set yourself up as an elf n safety guru. More like an ignorant troll .

 

[Goweresque]

building site (ditto for the signs + night security and lots of 8ft fencing panels to reduce unwanted visitors.

And who pays for all that? The customer. It just gets added to the cost of the construction project. And as all people bidding for the job have to supply the same security they all add it, and its just a universal part of the bid. So ultimately the UK consumer pays for it.

Can farmers add the cost of farmyard security to the price of the produce? 'Hey Mr Tesco I know you bid £X for my fat beasts at the mart, but here's the extra bill for the H&S on my farm, please pay it within the month' Or do they just go and get cheap beef from Brazil where the odd dead farm worker is a fact of life?

Its one of the reasons farming in the UK is screwed. It lives within an economy where prices rise inexorably, especially the cost of labour and services, yet the output prices it receives stagnate at levels seen 30 years ago.

 

[Bury the Trash]

And who pays for all that? The customer. It just gets added to the cost of the construction project. And as all people bidding for the job have to supply the same security they all add it, and its just a universal part of the bid. So ultimately the UK consumer pays for it.

Can farmers add the cost of farmyard security to the price of the produce? 'Hey Mr Tesco I know you bid £X for my fat beasts at the mart, but here's the extra bill for the H&S on my farm, please pay it within the month' Or do they just go and get cheap beef from Brazil where the odd dead farm worker is a fact of life?

Its one of the reasons farming in the UK is screwed. It lives within an economy where prices rise inexorably, especially the cost of labour and services, yet the output prices it receives stagnate at levels seen 30 years ago.

Exactly that, ive had experience of a site construction company covering the costs of modem 'Health and Safety' with all the nonsense and uselessness that it involved (was run by an ex. M.Navy chap with no previous,aimless and looking for a job , just started a new Business as the modern H&s biss. is a good easy earner it seems ) ' and passing them on ,yet when i put in my modest bills for the grass seeding, fencing, hedge planting for the area reinstatement.
Well, rather upsettingly ,they quibbled the invoices i sent at every step, and paid very late only after badgering them and the work we did was of a high conscientious standard because that's the way i work , so no excuse,

 

[Mark Hatton]

Talk is cheap.
like ive said in my posts , ive already modified poorly designed by the manufacturer implements so the set down safer and are easier to rehitch and we use a bag crane which mean the 'bag man' is not under anything .

Please remind us what are your quantifications on the subject, the practical job of farming , that is ? that qualifies your comments..?

I've spent enough time loading Fert into spreaders, seed potatoes into planters and seed into drills over the years I was operating machinery to be aware of the risks associated with it, along with potato, forage and combine harvesters to know not what to stick my arm in while its running.
Although I don't hold any H&S qualifications, I've been involved in enough method statements, risk assessments and H&S safety tests in construction, manufacturing and retail over the last 14 years to have pretty sound understanding of it, as did being part of an HSE investigation into an incident.
I don't profess to be an expert in any way and never have done.

 

[Bury the Trash]

I've spent enough time loading Fert into spreaders, seed potatoes into planters and seed into drills over the years I was operating machinery to be aware of the risks associated with it, along with potato, forage and combines harvesters to know not what to stick my arm in while its running.
Although I don't hold any H&S qualifications, I've been involved in enough method statements, risk assessments and H&S safety tests in construction, manufacturing and retail over the last 14 years to have pretty sound understanding of it, as did being part of an HSE investigation into an incident.
I don't profess to be an expert in any way and never have done.

Sounds like you have plenty of experience on the ground /in practice then , so to speak,.
Clive started a very useful and pertinent thread , prompted i think, by yet more sad news of an accident, it needs to be at the top all the time, to help us in some way or another.
Quite simple to do i bet.
With due respect to the O.p. It s not so good that we have to be alerted to fundamentals by an Insurance agent.

 

[betweenthelines]

Jesus wept. It was bought because it was cheap. I wonder why ? That's right no money in the job. 20 years ago I'd have gone for quality over price, but times have changed.
Anyway, ram could have been repaired again, but I deemed it not safe to do so. Looked like the cap had blown off at some point, and has been welded back on. Only visible once it had been removed from the headstock. I'll be keeping the machine for a long time, so I'll be spending money on it every year as and when till I'm happy with it.
You seem to have tried to set yourself up as an elf n safety guru. More like an ignorant troll .

Why is you buying a shoddy piece of kit that's not fit for purpose the fault of a safety culture?

Would you buy a car with 4 bald tyres because it's cheap then moan when it fails an MOT?

 

[betweenthelines]

And who pays for all that? The customer. It just gets added to the cost of the construction project. And as all people bidding for the job have to supply the same security they all add it, and its just a universal part of the bid. So ultimately the UK consumer pays for it.

Can farmers add the cost of farmyard security to the price of the produce? 'Hey Mr Tesco I know you bid £X for my fat beasts at the mart, but here's the extra bill for the H&S on my farm, please pay it within the month' Or do they just go and get cheap beef from Brazil where the odd dead farm worker is a fact of life?

Its one of the reasons farming in the UK is screwed. It lives within an economy where prices rise inexorably, especially the cost of labour and services, yet the output prices it receives stagnate at levels seen 30 years ago.

H & S is more often a matter of attitude than money. I worked for a farmer once who was all "jfdi" Heard the other day that he recently lost 4 fingers when he put his hand in a working baler-plenty of experience but a bad attitude.

Never seen any evidence that farm accident rates drop when profitability rises or vice versa. On the contrary, it's noticeable that farmers will happily spend tens of thousands on the latest tractor/pick up/parlour, etc (often to reduce tax liability) but resent spending a hundred quid on staff safety-how many farmers provide free safety boots for all their staff, for example?

 

[Mark Hatton]

Sounds like you have plenty of experience on the ground /in practice then , so to speak,.
Clive started a very useful and pertinent thread , prompted i think, by yet more sad news of an accident, it needs to be at the top all the time, to help us in some way or another.
Quite simple to do i bet.
With due respect to the O.p. It s not so good that we have to be alerted to fundamentals by an Insurance agent.

Everyday is a learning day, even with experience we all make mistakes, sadly sometimes with unintended consequences.
Lets be honest, H&S isn't the most interesting of subjects, no-one likes the form filling bureaucracy side of it.
It is though incredibly important, by having much wider discussions about it, sharing experiences and best practice, it might make a difference to how people look at their own H&S policies and improve what they do. H&S shouldn't be looked upon as tick box exercise it should be considered as how you look after yourself, your employee's, your family, your business and averyone that sets foot over the farm gate.

 

[Goweresque]

Never seen any evidence that farm accident rates drop when profitability rises or vice versa.

It wouldn't, because any rise in profits is transitory, one can't rely on them being there in the longer term. What is needed is many years of sustained profitability at a level that will allow the fabric of the farm to be invested in, plus prices that rise as the input costs rise. As it stands one can have a good year, because prices are up, the next they are on the floor or the weather has decimated output. No-one is going to spend wildly just because they've had one good year. It would take a sustained and reliable rise in profitability for people to start thinking 'You know what I can afford that new cherry picker/cattle handling system/whatever, as I'm making good money every year now'.

 

[betweenthelines]

1947 to 1970 was probably the most sustained period of farming profitability but ROPS still had to be enforced by statute

 

[Goweresque]

1947 to 1970 was probably the most sustained period of farming profitability but ROPS still had to be enforced by statute

I'd happily take 1970s prices uprated by inflation to today if the quid pro quo was far stricter H&S regulation.

As best I can work out US wheat prices were $2/bushel in 1970 and about $7 today (bear in mind they traded between $3 and $5 for 30 years from 1975 to 2005 and were as low as $4 as recently as 2016). And inflation means £1 in 1970 is equal to £16 today. So by my reckoning that would make US wheat prices $32/bushel (ie four and a half times what it is today) which would equate to $1150/tonne. At current exchange rates that would make UK wheat worth over £800/tonne.

At that sort of price 100 acres of wheat would be grossing £200k profit (ish). That would pay for a lot of H&S.

 

[quattro]

To put it into perspective how many people are killed in London (murdered) every week for no particular reason
I’m not trying to knock safety but I’m sure nobody goes with the intention of not been bothered about injuries or death
I think some near misses when your younger makes you a lot more aware of danger