HSE inspections

[Highland Mule]

what can they do to a one man band if they find non compliance. Reckon they would do more good sat at the bottom of Ben Nevis advising the climbers on their free fall activity

Depends on the offence or perceived deficiency - HSE officer are like police officers and carry warrant cards. They can advise, they can prosecute, they can issue prohibition notices. All the HSE inspectors I have had dealings with (and there have been many) have been very professional and know that sugar catches more than vinegar.

 

[neilo]

what can they do to a one man band if they find non compliance. Reckon they would do more good sat at the bottom of Ben Nevis advising the climbers on their free fall activity

As a one man band myself, I was told that if I didn’t comply with the ‘improvement notices’, the next step was a visit to the magistrate’s court.

But hey, we shouldn’t complain about people visiting to advise us on keeping safe.....apparently.

Costs to my business will be 2 days of time I don’t have, and £450, to be trained in the proper use of the quad and telehandler i’ve Been using daily for years. Oh, and a headache from the bloody reversing bleeper I had fitted to that telehandler to satisfy the Loler inspection (another £130 for inspection).

 

[Highland Mule]

As a one man band myself, I was told that if I didn’t comply with the ‘improvement notices’, the next step was a visit to the magistrate’s court.

But hey, we shouldn’t complain about people visiting to advise us on keeping safe.....apparently.

Costs to my business will be 2 days of time I don’t have, and £450, to be trained in the proper use of the quad and telehandler i’ve Been using daily for years. Oh, and a headache from the bloody reversing bleeper I had fitted to that telehandler to satisfy the Loler inspection (another £130 for inspection).

Your inspector doesn't sound like the types I have dealt with.

 

[davidroberts30]

As a one man band myself, I was told that if I didn’t comply with the ‘improvement notices’, the next step was a visit to the magistrate’s court.

But hey, we shouldn’t complain about people visiting to advise us on keeping safe.....apparently.

Costs to my business will be 2 days of time I don’t have, and £450, to be trained in the proper use of the quad and telehandler i’ve Been using daily for years. Oh, and a headache from the bloody reversing bleeper I had fitted to that telehandler to satisfy the Loler inspection (another £130 for inspection).

Hope you got the quieter beeper?not the full on 130db type

 

[farmerm]

We have a footpath straight through the middle of the yard,What would the advice be for this situation

Footpaths are, it seems the lessor mobile, the advice would be to relocate the yard... says a man with a footpath though his own!

 

[neilo]

Your inspector doesn't sound like the types I have dealt with.

Not at all, he was very reasonable in giving me time to do the courses, and said to let him know if I needed an extension. He was only operating within the guidelines he was given, ridiculous bale stacking technique included.

Almost every farm visited locally had the same notices given apparently, so at least that keeps the training and HSE industry ticking over I suppose.

 

[Cowcalf]

As a one man band myself, I was told that if I didn’t comply with the ‘improvement notices’, the next step was a visit to the magistrate’s court.

But hey, we shouldn’t complain about people visiting to advise us on keeping safe.....apparently.

Costs to my business will be 2 days of time I don’t have, and £450, to be trained in the proper use of the quad and telehandler i’ve Been using daily for years. Oh, and a headache from the bloody reversing bleeper I had fitted to that telehandler to satisfy the Loler inspection (another £130 for inspection).

Only time I went to HSE demo was on safe use of quad on hills, HSE demo man went away in an ambulance after tipping it over backwards with a broken pelvis, I can manage without their input

 

[neilo]

Only time I went to HSE demo was on safe use of quad on hills, HSE demo man went away in an ambulance after tipping it over backwards with a broken pelvis, I can manage without their input

Shouldn’t laugh at the misfortune of others...........but

 

[Highland Mule]

Only time I went to HSE demo was on safe use of quad on hills, HSE demo man went away in an ambulance after tipping it over backwards with a broken pelvis, I can manage without their input

Been reading the guidance again, and I'm struggling to see where training is mandatory, only that operators should have 'suitable training' (I forget the exact words, but it wasn't a requirement for a formal qualification). I really would fight that one, if it were me, and argue that my own experience was adequate for the jobs I do. I won't be going on a training course without a formal order to do so.

 

[Cowabunga]

in 2017 the fatality rate per 100,000 workers in an industry was 8.44 for agriculture..... to put that in perspective. The next nearest was 1.9, mining i think......

What mining? There's only opencast left.
Most industries don't work in individual isolation. Don't work with cattle. Have large companies with rules for employed staff. Don't live on the job. Don't have young families on the work site. Don't have the pressure to get things done on their own by any means possible. Don't have the same man doing the tractor work, the milking and repair the skylight on the asbestos-cement roof.

 

[Highland Mule]

What mining? There's only opencast left.
Most industries don't work in individual isolation. Don't work with cattle. Have large companies with rules for employed staff. Don't live on the job. Don't have young families on the work site. Don't have the pressure to get things done on their own by any means possible. Don't have the same man doing the tractor work, the milking and repair the skylight on the asbestos-cement roof.

No, that's an excuse - plenty tradesmen go out in just as shitty conditions as farmers do, work in small companies and do multi-trade work. The sad fact is, we aren't trying hard enough, and we do stupid things like unblock balers with the tractor engine running, or cut off bale wrap when there's a silage bale on the loader above our heads.

 

[Cowabunga]

Depends on the offence or perceived deficiency - HSE officer are like police officers and carry warrant cards. They can advise, they can prosecute, they can issue prohibition notices. All the HSE inspectors I have had dealings with (and there have been many) have been very professional and know that sugar catches more than vinegar.

I had two visit me in the silage field once and I indicated from the tractor, before I knew who they were, that they were not welcome on the work site. One of them actually jumped on the step of the working tractor and opened the door. How safe is that?

 

[Highland Mule]

I had two visit me in the silage field once and I indicated from the tractor, before I knew who they were, that they were not welcome on the work site. One of them actually jumped on the step of the working tractor and opened the door. How safe is that?

Not at all, and I've have kicked them out for it, or at least made sure that they knew I was more safety aware than they were. Did they indicate for you to stop so they could approach safely?

 

[Cowabunga]

No, that's an excuse - plenty tradesmen go out in just as shitty conditions as farmers do, work in small companies and do multi-trade work. The sad fact is, we aren't trying hard enough, and we do stupid things like unblock balers with the tractor engine running, or cut off bale wrap when there's a silage bale on the loader above our heads.

Fact is that there are too many, and a lot of people will hate me for saying this, people with low intelligence and zero common sense working on farms. That may well include farmers themselves. Many of these just don't see danger and never will. They are a total liability but are retained either because they are cheap or because they are the boss or because they have always been there and can't be trained or gotten rid of.

 

[Highland Mule]

Fact is that there are too many, and a lot of people will hate me for saying this, people with low intelligence and zero common sense working on farms. That may well include farmers themselves. Many of these just don't see danger and never will. They are a total liability but are retained either because they are cheap or because they are the boss or because they have always been there and can't be trained or gotten rid of.

Can't disagree. And charlatan employers who exploit their vulnerability. Oh, and you've missed some mines - I know there are salt ones in Cheshire still, and I think there are a few others too - is there not a few for slate, tin and perhaps even a couple of coal ones? And yes, open cast is quite hazardous too - big trucks and small people sharing the same space is not a good idea.

 

[Cowcalf]

I had two visit me in the silage field once and I indicated from the tractor, before I knew who they were, that they were not welcome on the work site. One of them actually jumped on the step of the working tractor and opened the door. How safe is that?

This is an obvious sign that you need training in indicating to third parties, a top link in one hand and two fingers in the other may have been more successful

 

[Cowabunga]

Been reading the guidance again, and I'm struggling to see where training is mandatory, only that operators should have 'suitable training' (I forget the exact words, but it wasn't a requirement for a formal qualification). I really would fight that one, if it were me, and argue that my own experience was adequate for the jobs I do. I won't be going on a training course without a formal order to do so.

I quite enjoy training courses. The last one I did was the sprayer operator's course. Health and safety course are well worth going to once in a blue moon. Unfortunately it just won't help some people, who are what is euphemistically called, 'accident prone'.

Too many old people working in ag as well. They just can't retire and can be a slow reacting liability in some situations. They won't be told either.

 

[Cowabunga]

Not at all, and I've have kicked them out for it, or at least made sure that they knew I was more safety aware than they were. Did they indicate for you to stop so they could approach safely?

Yes, and I indicated for them to go away, assuming them to be salesmen. They should not have been there and certainly should not have risked life to jump on a moving tractor. If he were employed by me, that would have been a sacking offence.

 

[Scholsey]

What mining? There's only opencast left.
Most industries don't work in individual isolation. Don't work with cattle. Have large companies with rules for employed staff. Don't live on the job. Don't have young families on the work site. Don't have the pressure to get things done on their own by any means possible. Don't have the same man doing the tractor work, the milking and repair the skylight on the asbestos-cement roof.

How about number of fatalities/square KM of work area, bet farming wouldnt look so bad then! It seems like whether it is a lorry driver tipping stone on a farm under power cables or a footpath walker being trampled by freshly turned out beef heifers or a little lad/old boy being run over on a farm because they were somewhere they shouldnt have been it all goes down as a farm fatality, i am sure if 1000's of families lived in the middle of a mine or had random people walking across them/turning up then minings fatality rate wouldnt look too smart either.