Farm safety

[Robt]

I just read this on the news section and felt it needed posting on here.
This really cannot be allowed to keep happening. 16 deaths in Ireland (inc N Ireland)
Three children and nine people over 65 have died this year .
What on earth can we all do to stop this. Thats three parents that will have to bury their son or daughter. .....
not good at all. The whole H&S is a waste of time and common sense must prevail obviously isnt working. Please dont turn this into an argument. I want genuine ideas.

 

[ARW]

H & S isn’t free. Pay farmers a fair price meaning they actually have more money to improve h & s

 

[Tomr10]

Need to know specifics of deaths but one thing that could be done is get rid of a lot of the older equipment. No role bars seat belts that kind of thing but as said lot of money

 

[delilah]

I want genuine ideas.

Hermetically sealed cabs to be done away with in a yard environment. OK, i'm sure someone will point out the HaS benefits of a sealed cab, but I can't sit on a tractor without the back window being open and I am sure I am safer for it, with my senses in touch with whats outside.

 

[steveR]

Hermetically sealed cabs to be done away with in a yard environment. OK, i'm sure someone will point out the HaS benefits of a sealed cab, but I can't sit on a tractor without the back window being open and I am sure I am safer for it, with my senses in touch with whats outside.

Some truth here I agree, I like my rear window up around the yard or hooking up etc, it just improves situational awareness.

I "lost" the front window from my little telehandler and was without one for 3 weeks, waiting for a replacement to be fitted. It was strange how much better visibility was without it... I almost felt claustrophobic when it went back in! Warmer mind in mid winter...!

 

[Ivorbiggun]

H & S isn’t free. Pay farmers a fair price meaning they actually have more money to improve h & s

So farmers have no money to make things safer for their employees then.
but they ride around in a big 4x4. Have big expensive holidays etc etc.
The reason they don’t do health and safety is it doesn’t suit them too.
They think their above the law, and it’s just for other industries.
One day someone will wake up to what’s going on and hit farmers hard, they did it to the construction industry.
Its worse on big farms which is just down to greed

 

[DeeGee]

Hermetically sealed cabs to be done away with in a yard environment. OK, i'm sure someone will point out the HaS benefits of a sealed cab, but I can't sit on a tractor without the back window being open and I am sure I am safer for it, with my senses in touch with whats outside.

I’m the same with the loadall, I always take off both upper and lower doors and store them away. I know that I am then much happier, safer and far less likely to suffer minor injuries from flapping doors. Yes I know that I am wrong, and that in law they have to be fitted; but when you are continuously on and off the machine they are an absolute pain in the neck and are actually IMO, more dangerous than being without them. Rant over.

 

[Wombat]

I think one of the big issues as listed in the statistics is 3 children and 9 over 65. It is an issue not seen in many other industries as kids and people of an older age are not in contact with animals, machines etc

I am not sure how we solve it but the combination of house and work place is not a good thing

 

[agrotron]

Education is the answer but its nearly an impossible task.

 

[neilo]

I’m the same with the loadall, I always take off both upper and lower doors and store them away. I know that I am then much happier, safer and far less likely to suffer minor injuries from flapping doors. Yes I know that I am wrong, and that in law they have to be fitted; but when you are continuously on and off the machine they are an absolute pain in the neck and are actually IMO, more dangerous than being without them. Rant over.

They make it so much harder to operate the joystick whilst standing outside too.

 

[neilo]

So farmers have no money to make things safer for their employees then.
but they ride around in a big 4x4. Have big expensive holidays etc etc.
The reason they don’t do health and safety is it doesn’t suit them too.
They think their above the law, and it’s just for other industries.
One day someone will wake up to what’s going on and hit farmers hard, they did it to the construction industry.
Its worse on big farms which is just down to greed

Do you want some fish with that chip?

 

[Highland Mule]

Do you want some fish with that chip?

Truth hurts?

 

[neilo]

Truth hurts?

Do all farmers drive about in a big 4x4 or have ‘big expensive holidays’, whatever one of those might be?

 

[Andrew]

H & S isn’t free. Pay farmers a fair price meaning they actually have more money to improve h & s

If that was the case H+S would be poor on every farm, but it’s not.
In my opinion if you can’t run a business profitably and maintain a reasonable level of safety you should pack up and work for someone else.

If you read the reports behind most fatalities it is young children falling in pits / being run over, and older generation being hurt because they’re weaker / slower than they used to be.

 

[milkloss]

H & S isn’t free. Pay farmers a fair price meaning they actually have more money to improve h & s

I agree. Some farmers might not spend the extra on HS but they wouldnt be able to use money as an
excuse anymore.

 

[Highland Mule]

Do all farmers drive about in a big 4x4 or have ‘big expensive holidays’, whatever one of those might be?

No, but plenty do. I was thinking that the other five lines were all spot on with the post. Apologies if you picked up on line two. FWIW I have a 20 year old LR 110 here, and spent >£500 on my last weekend away, so maybe I do fall into that category regardless.

Doing things properly is a fundamental that we should all do, and yet too often we hear that H&S is too expensive. Replacing PTO guards, cleaning tractor windows, turning the radio down, not walking underneath loads, switching off engines before getting off the seat, keeping the kids and elderly out of the way. All these cost sod all or nothing. Sure, some things cost a few quid, but that's business. I'm all for running things efficiently, but if a business can only remain viable by cutting corners that add risk to others, it's time for the farmer to admit they're not running the business properly and stop.

 

[Ivorbiggun]

Do you want some fish with that chip?

No I don’t have a chip on my shoulder, I do how ever work on a large farm 6000acres and I know exactly the health and safety issues that we have, I’ve tried talking to the boss about them but I may as well talk to the concrete In the yard.
Untill the h&s people do something about these issues nothing will ever change.
Farming is still living in the past and it’s just keeping it’s fingers crossed that nothing happens.
It may take one of these harvest students who’s been working day and night to wipe out a bus full of school kids with a overloaded grain trailer before anything gets done.
Farmers have got to realise they are not above the law, and it’s not just for everyone else.

 

[Andrew]

https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/pdf/agriculture-fatal-injuries-1819-summary.pdf

Have a read of this, look at the farm worker's over 65, children under 18, and explain how more money would help?

 

[milkloss]

No, but plenty do. I was thinking that the other five lines were all spot on with the post. Apologies if you picked up on line two. FWIW I have a 20 year old LR 110 here, and spent >£500 on my last weekend away, so maybe I do fall into that category regardless.

Doing things properly is a fundamental that we should all do, and yet too often we hear that H&S is too expensive. Replacing PTO guards, cleaning tractor windows, turning the radio down, not walking underneath loads, switching off engines before getting off the seat, keeping the kids and elderly out of the way. All these cost sod all or nothing. Sure, some things cost a few quid, but that's business. I'm all for running things efficiently, but if a business can only remain viable by cutting corners that add risk to others, it's time for the farmer to admit they're not running the business properly and stop.

your right but also I think you highlight some of the problem. There can be so many rules, regs etc that it starts to become difficult to keep up, once you start to get behind you give up entirely. Focussing more on the basics like you suggest might mean that the little (but not unimportant) things that need sorting won't look so bad or difficult.

 

[Wombat]

https://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/pdf/agriculture-fatal-injuries-1819-summary.pdf

Have a read of this, look at the farm worker's over 65, children under 18, and explain how more money would help?

So reading that there a few things that could be looked. Age (both young and old), working from heights , ATV and footpaths/bridleways (neither of these have a place in farm yards in this day an age)