Lone working

[Green Grass]

How long will one [employed] man managing 200+ cows on a day to day basis be allowed under health n safety grounds.
Will remote monitoring be enough?
I know many people work alone less cow numbers don't diminish risk that much, just wondering how long before elf n safety caught up with us.

 

[lazy farmer]

How long will one [employed] man managing 200+ cows on a day to day basis be allowed under health n safety grounds.
Will remote monitoring be enough?
I know many people work alone less cow numbers don't diminish risk that much, just wondering how long before elf n safety caught up with us.

What are we doing that’s dangerous ?
Am I not going to be allowed to walk my dogs alone in case I fall over ?
It won’t happen especially if we are smart about what we are doing in the first place.

 

[frederick]

It's not the milking but perhaps the quad bike. Case near here throttle stuck relief milker went over handlebars hedge and landed in neighbours field. Fortunately he got up walked cows in and milked. If not he might not have been discovered for 5 or 6 hours.

However if lone working was banned that 100 cow farm would be finished overnight. Or it would get worse for the owner as the rules wouldnt apply to them but they couldnt take time off.

 

[vinnie123]

There’s a personal alarm thingy called “skyguard “ available that ticks all the boxes for lone working .

 

[livestock 1]

Does anyone actually care about what we do? Seems farmers are exempt from what is allowed in the usual workplace. Lone farmers are pretty much ignored until there employees involved

 

[buffalo_soldier]

Shouldn't need to legislate for safety really.

Can't drive quad sensibly, you shouldn't be on one.
Don't go on roofs, get a contractor.
Don't go in enclosed spaces with bulls.

Probably cut 90% of accidents that way.

 

[tepapa]

If your self employed then crack on. You are responsible for your own safety. If you employ staff then Look out

 

[bigw]

If your self employed then crack on. You are responsible for your own safety. If you employ staff then Look out

If you take a contractor on the place then the rules apply then. Its actually quite unfair that if your self employed then you can get away with so much but the minute you have someone employed they will come after you.

 

[livestock 1]

If you take a contractor on the place then the rules apply then. Its actually quite unfair that if your self employed then you can get away with so much but the minute you have someone employed they will come after you.

Yes. The employer is still responsible for their safety

 

[betweenthelines]

Lots of people are "lone workers" From people running a small shop to security patrolmen, Estate Agents (remember Suzy Lamplugh?) etc Must be millions of people technically classed as lone workers as working from home atm

Why single out herdsman, what about the tractor driver on a large arable unit split over several blocks?

Risk assessments, safe systems of work and a mobile phone is all that's needed

 

[Green Grass]

Mate of mine has just been offered Herdsman job 300+ cows on a one man unit.
It got me thinking, just seems a bit sad really. Most the time it's fine. But theirs always a chance of a herd of cows getting spoked by fire engine, helicopter etc.
Things do go wrong so I was wondering what measures people were putting in place to mitigate the risks.

 

[betweenthelines]

As above, RA, SSoW.

You can reduce risk but never eliminate it.

I know someone who broke their ankle when they tripped over a road cone that was put there to warn about a trip hazard. Another guy who was off work for 6 months after throwing a ball for his dog-the dog ran back to him with the ball and ran into his leg, breaking the guy's kneecap!

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Mate of mine has just been offered Herdsman job 300+ cows on a one man unit.
It got me thinking, just seems a bit sad really. Most the time it's fine. But theirs always a chance of a herd of cows getting spoked by fire engine, helicopter etc.
Things do go wrong so I was wondering what measures people were putting in place to mitigate the risks.

Was it in South East Devon? There's a one man 300 cow herd there that seems to advertise for a new cow man every 6 months.

Even on the perfect setup 300 isn't a one man unit.

 

[Kiss]

300 cows could be one man from end of calving til dry off, with young stock away, but you’d probably (hopefully) still have a relief milker

Basically you’d have a heifer rearing, high contracting/vet med bill buts it’s ok your labour bill would be low! It’s all relative but you’d probably argue the herdsperson is probably in reality a milker

 

[Green Grass]

It's a multi unit business with shared relief but as above daily work is expected to be carried out as one man unit.

 

[Beef farmer]

It's a multi unit business with shared relief but as above daily work is expected to be carried out as one man unit.

We run 300 cows with 1 person for a standard day.
Tb testing/calving/vaccinations/whole herd foot trim then there is more people. But day to day running is 1 person. On a 5 on 2 off theres only 3 days a week with 2 people. So those 3 days are targeted for any extra jobs.

 

[Milkcow365]

We run 300 cows with 1 person for a standard day.
Tb testing/calving/vaccinations/whole herd foot trim then there is more people. But day to day running is 1 person. On a 5 on 2 off theres only 3 days a week with 2 people. So those 3 days are targeted for any extra jobs.

What would labour cost be for cow work only ppl?

 

[Beef farmer]

What would labour cost be for cow work only ppl?

Cfp paid labour is 2.45ppl
Total is 4.04 with 30k per full time family unit.
But 1 full family unit does very little cow work. But that is reflected in contractor costs.

 

[Beef farmer]

What would labour cost be for cow work only ppl?

Also no ys. So have a big line for purchases. I guess you could spend 0.5ppl on ys duties

 

[Cows 'n grass]

Also no ys. So have a big line for purchases. I guess you could spend 0.5ppl on ys duties

I'd be near 1ppl on youngstock a I think many others would to