Farming Safely
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
With the fine weather just around the corner (says who?) Farmers face long days over coming months to once again generate sufficient income to survive. Needless to say, accidents are not something wished upon the community, but these long days and temporary workers put great strains on farmers. The HSE have launched a new website dedicated to helping the farming community. I would urge everyone in this industry to take advantage of this service.
SMART Health & Safety Solutions can also assist Farmers to achieve a zero tolerance and expectation to accidents during their farm based activities.
(SHAD) Safety & Health Awareness day.
Too many farmers are dying as a result of work activities. A Safety and Health Awareness Day (SHAD) provides an excellent opportunity for those working on farms get practical advice free of charge from trained instructors with an industry background and take often simple and cheap precautions to avoid people being killed, injured or made ill on their farm.
HSE Wins award for ‘Make the Promise’ campaign.
The campaign urging farmers to ‘Make the promise. Come home safe’ in a bid to reduce the high rate of death and injury in the sector, has won a prestigious marketing award
Rail Crossings.
User-worked rail crossings (i.e. those without automatic barriers, etc) pose a significant risk to road and rail users. As farm vehicles and machinery get wider, longer and higher, it takes more time to cross rail tracks and the risk of a collision is increased. This topic has been featured at several ‘transport safety’ events this year and Network Rail and the Office for Rail Regulation (ORR) hope to run further events for authorised users (mainly farmers) and others such as contractors, utility companies, etc. If you would be interested in attending one of these sessions please contact alan.plom@hse.gsi.gov.uk
Meanwhile, if you have an issue or need advice concerning a specific crossing contact Network Rail on 08457 114141.
Pesticides Annual Report.
Figures published in HSE’s annual Pesticides Incident Report 2008/09 show a decrease in the total number of incidents and complaints involving pesticides reported and investigated by the Field Operations Directorate (FOD) of HSE between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2009.
During the year, FOD staff investigated 92 reported pesticide incidents, including 33 cases involving allegations of ill health. The majority of people involved in reported incidents were, as in previous years, members of the public.
The report comprises statistical information on complaints and enforcement, a report on alleged ill-health incidents reviewed by HSE’s Pesticide Incidents Appraisal Panel (PIAP) and environmental and other complaints not alleging ill health.
PIAP considered all 33 of the reported incidents involving allegations of ill health. The panel assessed 12 of these cases as ‘likely’ to be linked to pesticide usage.
New Agricultural Website.
In line with changes to HSE’s website the site is here; Agriculture webpages.
In addition to ‘Farmwise’ HSE’s suite of free guidance covering a wide-range of agriculture health and safety topics and issues are also available on HSE’s website.
Overhead Power-lines: Incidents.
Two Norfolk teenagers suffered electric shocks while working on a farm near Thetford
Remember also to keep machinery in tip top working condition!
