Farm accidents claim four lives in three weeks

Location
southwest
The problem is that H& S in other fields has turned itself into a huge industry, of its own, more admin etc, with a lot of money generated for its mangers but resources wasted, excavator certificates one small example.
Why do we need more of that in Agriculture?

sometimes relatively easy to do small tweaks to a thing are all thats required,...... not necessarily a major job.

To anyone who considers H&S and all it entails to be expensive, I would suggest they work out the FULL cost to their business, of an accident.

Say an employee slips when exiting a tractor and breaks an ankle.

Someone has to take him to A&E and wait while he is treated-could well be 5/6 hours for each person.
Six weeks off work for the injured party, means six weeks of agency or temporary help-who won't be as productive as they don't know where everything is, how everything works etc.
Your time spent reporting the accident, dealing with the insurance claim and the HSE
Increased insurance premiums if you are at fault (you did provide safety boots, train him on "3 points of Contact" made sure the tractor was washed down every day, didn't you?) And if you think your insurers will fight the claim, think again-as far as they are concerned it's usually cheaper to pay a small-4 figure- claim than fight it.
Even if the guy has only a minor sprain rather than a break, they're still the ten hours at A&E and a couple of days off work to pay for.

Prevention is no only better than cure, it's a darn sight cheaper!
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Ticking boxes , extra paperwork and good insurance cover doesn't save lives.

Anyway enough of this unproductive 'discussion' its costing me too much.

Back to practical farmwork(y) :love:
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Not so long ago a local man lost his life when climbing out of the cab of a skidsteer, he jogged a lever somehow as he climbed out ( I dont know the detail) and the bucket came down and trapped him , he had his phone which got him to hospital but he died a long time afterwards from complications of the injuries.

He was a very knowledgeable and experienced farm machinery operator.
the only time I have sat in a skid steer, it had a pressure pad in the seat, off the seat, engine cut out
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
To anyone who considers H&S and all it entails to be expensive, I would suggest they work out the FULL cost to their business, of an accident.

Say an employee slips when exiting a tractor and breaks an ankle.

Someone has to take him to A&E and wait while he is treated-could well be 5/6 hours for each person.
Six weeks off work for the injured party, means six weeks of agency or temporary help-who won't be as productive as they don't know where everything is, how everything works etc.
Your time spent reporting the accident, dealing with the insurance claim and the HSE
Increased insurance premiums if you are at fault (you did provide safety boots, train him on "3 points of Contact" made sure the tractor was washed down every day, didn't you?) And if you think your insurers will fight the claim, think again-as far as they are concerned it's usually cheaper to pay a small-4 figure- claim than fight it.
Even if the guy has only a minor sprain rather than a break, they're still the ten hours at A&E and a couple of days off work to pay for.

Prevention is no only better than cure, it's a darn sight cheaper!

A figure I’ve seen quoted was £100k for a broken leg.
 

ISCO

Member
Location
North East
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
After reading the other thread on health and safety i made myself something similar. Long wooden spade handle with a slot cut in end with handsaw. Stanley blade in slot with bolt through wood just behind to clamp solid. Works a treat.
 
Location
East Mids
Just heard of another one locally, suckler cow and calf separation (for tagging etc), got calf away but cow came after them, badly injured & inpatient in hospital, but not life threatening, BE CAREFUL EVERYONE. That is on top of the injured by bull incident locally that I posted early in the thread, so two locally within the space of a few weeks.
 

Will Wilson

Member
Location
Essex
I think manufacturers have to consider their role- why is it still possible to drive a tractor without a seat belt without a warning noise (even if it only came on over 10mph for example)?

How can a trailer manufacturer sell triaxle trailers that are well over legal weight for public roads, and if they aren't going on a public road why does it not clearly specify that in bold letters across the headboard that they are not permitted on public roads?

When you think about it the list is quite long!
 

Robt

Member
Location
Suffolk
I think manufacturers have to consider their role- why is it still possible to drive a tractor without a seat belt without a warning noise (even if it only came on over 10mph for example)?

How can a trailer manufacturer sell triaxle trailers that are well over legal weight for public roads, and if they aren't going on a public road why does it not clearly specify that in bold letters across the headboard that they are not permitted on public roads?

When you think about it the list is quite long!
My car does 140 mph, I dont have to drive through the village at that speed.
I have a few guns, I dont go around killing people.
My upstaris windows open completely, i dont go jumping out of them.......
 

Will Wilson

Member
Location
Essex
All of those things are your property and your responsibility - the dynamics change slightly when you sell them to other people or expect/pay other people to use them.

There is a middle ground.
 

Mark Hatton

Staff Member
Media
Location
Yorkshire
All of those things are your property and your responsibility - the dynamics change slightly when you sell them to other people or expect/pay other people to use them.

There is a middle ground.

Surely it all comes back to responsibility though doesn't it, both personal and to others, Employer and employee? In the example you referred too everyone involved has a responsibility but there will no doubt be small print in agreements arse covering all the way back to the manufacturer, the driver would be the one penalised if they got caught.
 
Location
southwest
Nothing to stop the owner of a trailer putting a warning on it not to exceed the wt limit on a public road-or to request the seller does it!

Too many farmers are quick to dodge responsibility for H&S-too expensive,only idiots have accidents, manufacturers fault etc.etc.

IMHO it's time HSE had a blitz on farms. For every person killed, there's probably 1000 injuries-and 90% of them are entirely avoidable.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
Nothing to stop the owner of a trailer putting a warning on it not to exceed the wt limit on a public road-or to request the seller does it!

But instead they do the opposite - "encourage" staff/ contractors to fill to the max space and not the weight limit, drive above the speed limit etc. And often "encourage" them with threat of no work if they won't.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
Not so long ago a local man lost his life when climbing out of the cab of a skidsteer, he jogged a lever somehow as he climbed out ( I dont know the detail) and the bucket came down and trapped him , he had his phone which got him to hospital but he died a long time afterwards from complications of the injuries.

He was a very knowledgeable and experienced farm machinery operator.
Unfortunate that he didn’t lock the boom. Experience is not enough.
 

Grassman

Member
Location
Derbyshire
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 :rolleyes:.
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 (y)

Machinery designers need a kick up their big arses sometimes.
I have often thought that a lot of implements could be designed to fit on a system like fork lift tines. Just slide in with some kind of latch to lock on.
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
I think people see the big company H&S approach, which largely revolves around them covering their arse, confuse it with basic safety at farm level and just switch off.
If you don't employ anyone and aren't interested in making your day to day life safer, there isn't really much anyone can do for you.
If you employ staff or have contractors on farm, you have to lift your game and at least show its safe to have people on your farm. It does seem that farm deaths involving employees are very low, so maybe employers are trying? Not sure about injuries.
Common sense gets mentioned a lot and is often all that's needed but if you look at the deaths and serious injuries, its fairly obvious that common sense was having a day off in most cases.
 

roscoe erf

Member
Livestock Farmer
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7610 super q

Never Forgotten
Honorary Member
I think manufacturers have to consider their role- why is it still possible to drive a tractor without a seat belt without a warning noise (even if it only came on over 10mph for example)?

How can a trailer manufacturer sell triaxle trailers that are well over legal weight for public roads, and if they aren't going on a public road why does it not clearly specify that in bold letters across the headboard that they are not permitted on public roads?

When you think about it the list is quite long!
I find it strange that seed and fert companies can supply produce in questionable packaging, and yet the onus is on farmers to make knife on pole contraptions to make the job safe.
And after 60 years machinery manufacturers can get away with plastic PTO guards with nylon bearings and feeble chains which you could probably snap with your hands....
Still, it's all down to money isn't it. An entire industry doing everything from beginning to end to try and cut cut costs. But we knew that anyway didn't we. At least some of us do. :rolleyes:
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
I find it strange that seed and fert companies can supply produce in questionable packaging, and yet the onus is on farmers to make knife on pole contraptions to make the job safe.
And after 60 years machinery manufacturers can get away with plastic PTO guards with nylon bearings and feeble chains which you could probably snap with your hands....
Still, it's all down to money isn't it. An entire industry doing everything from beginning to end to try and cut cut costs. But we knew that anyway didn't we. At least some of us do. :rolleyes:

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


 

Will Wilson

Member
Location
Essex
Perhaps it is time for some original thinking?

Construction HS improvement was driven by the customers of the construction companies demanding it because of amongst other things the negative PR from an accident. With traceability becoming so much better how long before the supply chain demands the same. A headline along the lines of 'teenager dies in Waitrose supplier farm accident' could be a game-changer.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 34.6%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.2%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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