H & s check before feed delivery

For Farmers is the only feed firm I’ve come across that carry out a HSE inspection.

I used to buy off them but carried out my own unofficial safety audit/came to the conclusion that they seem to employ some right numpties to drive their lorries so no longer buy off them.
Never has a problem with any other feed firms drivers.
 

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Never had any problems when we. were farming dealing with 5 firms over the years delivering bulk but only problem was with delivery of bags when the driver refused to carry bags up steps to granary after exchange of
abuse words he did help to unload
Funny thing was at the time he was living next door, he now drives readymix lorry

wow 😯

I would NEVER expect a driver to physically carry bags, shovel grain or unload a truck in any way, unless using their own equipment such as a truck mounted crane, mini forklift, blower etc.

But carry bags up stairs ?
Then people complain that drivers are late or never on time . . .
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
I agree but the poster I replied to is a stickler for doing things right. Grinding the pallet forks is a bit like tying yourself off to the telehandler bucket when cleaning gutters. Sensible but not right.

You’re right, and I should have replied. If and when they want a bag lifter to use the sleeves, I can happily go to lifting the pallet from below. I can’t see it getting to the stage of needing a lifter, but never say never - I assume that as long as the suppliers offer forklift delivery, then my forks will be okay.
 
wow 😯

I would NEVER expect a driver to physically carry bags, shovel grain or unload a truck in any way, unless using their own equipment such as a truck mounted crane, mini forklift, blower etc.

But carry bags up stairs ?
Then people complain that drivers are late or never on time . . .
To be fair, I think he was commenting on what happened in the past.
I’m sure it would have been common for feed to have been stored in a loft/granary on most farms at one time.
 

Bobthebuilder

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
northumberland
Anyone remember unloading sugar beet pulp in cwt bags? They were stacked on end on an artic trailer, the driver would wheel them to the side, and you'd carry on your shoulder. If you were lucky the bags were still a bit squishy, but if they'd been loaded a day or two before it was like concrete.
Were the paper beet pulp bags not 40kg, used to get a full artic load every year, lucky enough to back wagon into shed but still all to hand stack along wall side
 

milkloss

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
East Sussex
You’re right, and I should have replied. If and when they want a bag lifter to use the sleeves, I can happily go to lifting the pallet from below. I can’t see it getting to the stage of needing a lifter, but never say never - I assume that as long as the suppliers offer forklift delivery, then my forks will be okay.

I was dryly (is that even a word?) pulling your leg there.... should have used some smileys really but I think you know what I was up to;)
 
But to expect the delivery driver to carry them ?
The days when everything was in bags is bordering on before my time but back in the day when everything was bagged I believe it was common if not standard practice for the lorry driver to have a drivers mate to help.

We have had pallet forks here for some years now so the relatively small amount of deliveries in bags that we have are all lifted off.
Before pallet forks it would have been considered bad form not to help the driver unload, and for most of my time that would of been for relatively small drops of a pallet, the driver passing bags to the edge of the lorry.

Up until lockdown a lorry driver who does the bag deliveries for a local feed firm used to come in the local pub and he said he quite liked to unload the odd pallet by hand, was good excercise..........a whole load might be another matter.
 
But to expect the delivery driver to carry them ?
So the feed firm would be loosing out while the lorry and driver would be standing in farm yard while waiting for farmer to finish milking or feed cattle or assist with difficult lambing . The boss of the firm in question was still delivering feed until his mid 70's and his grandson is happy delivering and unloading bags of feed
 

Pennine Ploughing

Member
Mixed Farmer
For Farmers is the only feed firm I’ve come across that carry out a HSE inspection
Think you will find most if not all do a farm review, at least every 2 years, as it is a H&S requirement to do with ufas i think, normally done on the qt by the rep or the driver,
Some firms I have worked for have given the driver a form to do the farm review, basic checks like, overhead power lines, as if there is power cables above, and a new driver goes the week before Christmas at 7am when still dark, and is electrocuted, the HSE will be around your farm like bees to a honey pot, not only that but the area will be shut down pending an enquiry, god knows what they might find other that just the accident, and not only that the farmer would prosecuted for miss management if no signs were erected, yet if it needs a sign on the farm review, the feed firm will supply sign free of charge delivered to the farm, and in most cases fit it as well again for free,
Some of you seem to think that getting review is such a bad thing, far from it, the feed firm are not only looking after their own staff, but also looking after yourselves as part of the service, other things like having to go among livestock to fill a bin, the feed firm will leave some extra pipes on the farm to the bin, so driver does not have to go among the stock, don't be so dead against a review, and most if not all feed firms will do what they can to help you overcome any delivery problems,
Just a few simple things can make things safer for the driver and the farmer
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
So the feed firm would be loosing out while the lorry and driver would be standing in farm yard while waiting for farmer to finish milking or feed cattle or assist with difficult lambing . The boss of the firm in question was still delivering feed until his mid 70's and his grandson is happy delivering and unloading bags of feed

To clarify, are you still advocating that drivers should offload bags by hand, or is your experience from last century?
 
Think you will find most if not all do a farm review, at least every 2 years, as it is a H&S requirement to do with ufas i think, normally done on the qt by the rep or the driver,
Some firms I have worked for have given the driver a form to do the farm review, basic checks like, overhead power lines, as if there is power cables above, and a new driver goes the week before Christmas at 7am when still dark, and is electrocuted, the HSE will be around your farm like bees to a honey pot, not only that but the area will be shut down pending an enquiry, god knows what they might find other that just the accident, and not only that the farmer would prosecuted for miss management if no signs were erected, yet if it needs a sign on the farm review, the feed firm will supply sign free of charge delivered to the farm, and in most cases fit it as well again for free,
Some of you seem to think that getting review is such a bad thing, far from it, the feed firm are not only looking after their own staff, but also looking after yourselves as part of the service, other things like having to go among livestock to fill a bin, the feed firm will leave some extra pipes on the farm to the bin, so driver does not have to go among the stock, don't be so dead against a review, and most if not all feed firms will do what they can to help you overcome any delivery problems,
Just a few simple things can make things safer for the driver and the farmer
Ok, I’ll re phrase, for farmers are the only feed firm I’m aware of doing on farm safety inspections, they are the only feed firm who have specifically sent a man here with the sole job of checking for hazards.
 
So the feed firm would be loosing out while the lorry and driver would be standing in farm yard while waiting for farmer to finish milking or feed cattle or assist with difficult lambing . The boss of the firm in question was still delivering feed until his mid 70's and his grandson is happy delivering and unloading bags of feed
Tom Bowen?
He used to deliver coal to us when I was a kid on a flat bed and shovel it off.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
I’ve only ever heard of 4Farmers doing such a review too, not that I have anything to do with them myself. None of the feed companies I’ve dealt with have ever wanted to visit beforehand.
 
Yes, we had 4 Farmers man visit to look at yard / yard surface, overhead wires etc, turning area, and bin / bin filling point, filled in a risk assessment n left me a copy. Took some photos of the yard gateway and where the bins were which the drivers can look up on their in-cab tablet to identify where things should go. Was fine.

They've had drivers getting stuck, damaging the truck, climbing unsafe ladders, filling the wrong bin etc when no one's around etc so I thought it was a great idea to get it done

This is the problem. Delivery drivers arrive in a yard that they don't know or do something out of the ordinary trying to help the customer, it goes wrong and HSE is after the feed company asking did you risk assess this site and train this bloke?
 
To clarify, are you still advocating that drivers should offload bags by hand, or is your experience from last century?
Yes I would expect the driver to assist unloading and if he refused I would tell
him to leave .. there is local feed supplier also one of the biggest coal
Suppliers in the country and I know the drivers have to assist unloading or
Loose their job
 

Mc115reed

Member
Livestock Farmer
wow [emoji54]

I would NEVER expect a driver to physically carry bags, shovel grain or unload a truck in any way, unless using their own equipment such as a truck mounted crane, mini forklift, blower etc.

But carry bags up stairs ?
Then people complain that drivers are late or never on time . . .

Think if I was the driver I’d either jump in the truck and put a break on and go too sleep or unstrap and reverse back and slam the breaks on until all the bags were off the wagon [emoji23]
 

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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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