Look out - look up - look after yourself - #FarmSafety

[trook135]

Funny how all the hse campaigns are about machinery, never seem to be about livestock, not saying machinery is less hazardous but more people will come into contact with livestock than machinery on farms, breeds complacency, the odd reminder about livestock safety/ crush risks/ bulls would be very beneficial, speaking from personal experience, pulling your dead father out of a field after him being gored by a ‘friendly’ bull !!!! Not an experience I would wish on anybody

 

[llamedos]

Funny how all the hse campaigns are about machinery, never seem to be about livestock, not saying machinery is less hazardous but more people will come into contact with livestock than machinery on farms, breeds complacency, the odd reminder about livestock safety/ crush risks/ bulls would be very beneficial, speaking from personal experience, pulling your dead father out of a field after him being gored by a ‘friendly’ bull !!!! Not an experience I would wish on anybody

So sorry to read this, not sure what I can say other than I agree with you.
Experiences such as this have had some good come from the sadness in Ireland where farmers who have lost loved ones have along with their HSE and farming boards, put together videos the sadness is palpable, so very very brave men and women speak about their experience, and not unsurprisingly a lot feel a sense of guilt too. Many seem to put across, that their loss has brought some good, in the fact they wish to help others.

So sorry for your loss.

 

[Will Wilson]

So why aren't AHDB or the NFU producing codes of practice for safe working - or are they?

 

[llamedos]

Just 2 quick links, easy to find if you look for it.
Trouble is getting past the mindset some have/hold

https://www.nfuonline.com/cross-sector/farm-business/farm-safety/

https://beefandlamb.ahdb.org.uk/wp-...Improving-cattle-handling-manual-3-190116.pdf

 

[llamedos]

One for children on farm

 

[Grassman]

Farm safety.
We can't afford it.
It's a load of rubbish. Just be careful.
There isnt time for all that faffing about.
Stop being a wimp and get up there.
That cow would never hurt anyone.
I'll get a new pto shaft guard when I go to the dealers.
Just put the pto out of gear. Can't start on its own.
Only fools tip quads over.
It's forecast rain. Just crack on.
That hydraulic pipe will last for years.
Electrical work is easy if your careful.

And I'm guilty of a lot of those!

Lots more to add I'm sure.

 

[farmer92]

I will always compromise a job for safety. Not the other way around. Nothing is worth risking your life for.

 

[Cowcalf]

teach them some common sense and you will have a lot fewer problems.These guys that come to advise or asses you use the legislation to rip you off bears no relation to what it has actually cost. Pal in a welding shop left turntable going as he went for break as it keeps oil at right temp and machine constant, , it rotates once every 8 mins and that was classed as a hazard !!!!!

 

[Yale]

I fully admit wild cattle make me anxious about handling them.

We used to have cattle which literally climbed walls and cows wanting to squash the living breath from us.

Through years of breeding and selection we now have a herd which are far more pleasant to handle.

They misbehave,they're burgers.

For the last three years now I have been caring for my wife who suffered a back injury in an incident with a cow on another farm.

It has change our lives as a family.

Please take care as it only takes a second to happen however the consequences can be with you for the rest of your life.

 

[Mr Charisma]

I had just seen the " look up" video and was going to post a link especially as this sort of thing is fresh on folks minds after the Hawthorns mishap has been put to good use through there own video and the page in the farmers weekly today but glad to see it's been done !!!!!!
I had tried a few months ago to get a specialist to sign up and log in on here to give expert advice on what to do and what not to do if you get tangled up in power lines but I failed , perhaps it time to try again!!!!!!!

 

[Tim Howard]

I think it is misleading to say that more over 50s are involved in farm accident's when the average age of farmers is 58.
It is important to learn from experience and use common sense but alas box filling is deemed to be more important. All my older machines have big red stop button's and most have low voltage operating panel but newer ones have full power 440 volt plastic switches. It is now more important to have a do not sticker than an off switch. I had a new shredder for the office with a row of symbols saying no ties, no long hear, no jewellery or loose clothing but the off button was behind the machine and difficult to get too. I think H&S need to have a fresh look at safety.
I spend my days in the workshop and always try to keep safe. Trying to do the impossible or working late is now a thing of the past as I find you can get more done when fresh.

 

[llamedos]

A North-West farmer has been sentenced to a conditional discharge after a man was electrocuted when the arm of his lorry mounted crane contacted overhead power lines.

Manchester Crown Court heard how, on 8 April 2016, Matthew Drummond, 29, a self-employed tipper wagon driver, had been in the process of unloading sand at Heaton Farm near Rochdale, when the incident took place.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Drummond had been looking for a site where he could dispose of some waste sand. An arrangement was subsequently made at short notice with a farmer, Mr David Heywood, to dump it on his land. The farmer met Mr Drummond at the entrance to the farm who, in his vehicle, led him to the site where the sand was to be tipped. Although overhead power lines (OHPLs) carrying 6,600 volts ran across the site, the farmer did not alert Mr Drummond to their presence or to the risks.

http://press.hse.gov.uk/2018/north-west-farmer-sentenced-after-man-electrocuted/

 

[Steevo]

Nice to see this article in FW this week. Hats off to Will Dickinson for raising it.

Whilst I agree with the latest campaign and that farmers with low power lines should report them, it is madness that the legal minimum height is still based at a time when the largest vehicles in fields were Massey Ferguson 135s!

 

[Steevo]

Also read the article from October which preceded this and saw HSE have a "Head of Agriculture"....though looking Rick Brunt up online his LinkedIn profile suggests he is actually "Head of Vulnerable Workers, Agriculture, Waste and Recycling Unit".

https://twitter.com/rickbrunt?lang=en
[email protected]

Interesting they group them all together. Also turns out they group agriculture with fishing and forestry for stats purposes.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/resources/fatal.htm

 

[ajcc]

Funny how all the hse campaigns are about machinery, never seem to be about livestock, not saying machinery is less hazardous but more people will come into contact with livestock than machinery on farms, breeds complacency, the odd reminder about livestock safety/ crush risks/ bulls would be very beneficial, speaking from personal experience, pulling your dead father out of a field after him being gored by a ‘friendly’ bull !!!! Not an experience I would wish on anybody

Sorry...but I remember it at the time on here and it makes an impression..spent a childhood near Clanfield...go over that way five or six times a year and my youngsters know “somewhere just here, Farmer was killed by his bull”(white dirt lane?).ones at Harper Adams, the other helps me farming at present. So some are in some unseen ways benefiting from your loss...

 

[llamedos]

https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index...ampaign-to-be-launched-by-hsa-ireland.211838/

 

[Ben M]

The sea change in building site safety was the monitoring of accidents by the customer - Anyone building for Bovis for example is expected to meet a safety specification, monitor and publish site safety records.

You get certificates/awards for safe working on sites and contractors looking for approved status work hard to achieve these. In this example Bovis would have people on site monitoring for best practice/HSE rules before rewarding /penalising good/ bad practice.

When this thought process was first introduced I am sure it was seen as a threat by the construction industry and I expect used as a way of penalising builders.

The reality is it has been a massive success and this mentality exists in large scale farms supplying supermarkets in the UK - no supermarket wants to be linked to a death on a farm that directly supply's them.

However - cereal growers, small farms, and contractors have a very tenuous link to the end Supermarket and don't seem to be under the same incentives to improve a safety record.

[emoji733]So if we were serious about farm HSE we should be demanding it from our retailers and our grain merchants and our contractors and they should be demanding it from their farmers[emoji733].

Really good point this will and one i had thought of before tbh. Why arent more of of customers demanding this H&S info? Like you say im sure it would dramatically improve H&S overnight if they did. I supply fresh produce to the likes of sainsburys / tesco and spend time on other farms that do so, the attitude to H&S on these farms on the whole is much more serious.

 

[DrWazzock]

Safety is made up of three aspects.

Firstly and most importantly you need to be careful and alert to hazards.

Secondly, protective equipment and safety devices and mechanisms need to be in place and properly maintained.

Thirdly, people need to be fully briefed on dangers they might be unaware of.

Back in the 1970's only the first aspect existed on most places where I worked but it stood me in good stead for my working life in general.

The problem with the second aspect is that people come to rely on safety devices to keep them out trouble. I've seen people leaning on power shaft guards while machines are running which is a hell of a risk as far I am concerned. You only need a thread of clothing to find its way into the shaft at a joint to end up dead in seconds. Similarly people will drive too fast because they rely on efficient braking systems to get them out of trouble. I was always told to drive as if it didn't have brakes...because back then efficient brakes were rare and careful driving saved fuel as well. I have also seen the move away from ladders and the introduction of cherry pickers but have seen some near disasters with them on the soft and rough ground prevalent on farms.

The problem with the third aspect is how much you assume people do and don't know. It can be nearly limitless and encompasses a huge area of knowledge on a farm where it's a one man band or your are expected to a bit of absolutely everything.

So I am still of the opinion that while items 2 and 3 are essential, legally required and we do our best to comply, it's aspect number 1 which is most important. - Look out for yourself and others as you go about your work, keeping your eyes and your mind open for unexpected dangers and ways of avoiding them. If you think it doesn't look right, do something about it, report it or change your working method before another needless tragedy strikes. Don't just assume somebody else has passed it as safe, checked it over or done a risk assessment because they probably haven't. Nobody's perfect, even health and safety offices and things can slip through the net.

 

[roscoe erf]

A North-West farmer has been sentenced to a conditional discharge after a man was electrocuted when the arm of his lorry mounted crane contacted overhead power lines.

Manchester Crown Court heard how, on 8 April 2016, Matthew Drummond, 29, a self-employed tipper wagon driver, had been in the process of unloading sand at Heaton Farm near Rochdale, when the incident took place.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that Mr Drummond had been looking for a site where he could dispose of some waste sand. An arrangement was subsequently made at short notice with a farmer, Mr David Heywood, to dump it on his land. The farmer met Mr Drummond at the entrance to the farm who, in his vehicle, led him to the site where the sand was to be tipped. Although overhead power lines (OHPLs) carrying 6,600 volts ran across the site, the farmer did not alert Mr Drummond to their presence or to the risks.

http://press.hse.gov.uk/2018/north-west-farmer-sentenced-after-man-electrocuted/

So what was the driver doing first thing when your told taught on lorry loader crane licence is to look out for over head obstructions and not to work within a 16 m arc of them

 

[Steevo]

So what was the driver doing first thing when your told taught on lorry loader crane licence is to look out for over head obstructions and not to work within a 16 m arc of them

This is the problem nowadays! HSE go after the person they can fine, never the person who caused it/had the ability to prevent it.