From Farm Research Group
October 2014
Health & Safety Update
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Welcome to Strutt & Parker’s Farm Research Group Health & Safety Update The quarterly Health & Safety Update is designed to make you think about health & safety matters on your farm and/or estate. Health & safety is a vital part of any business operation. With the harvest now complete the autumn drilling campaign is already well underway. Thoughts of bringing cattle back into their winter housing will also be with many. Ensuring any maintenance and repairs to livestock buildings and handling areas are carried out before animals come in is important and should be planned well in advance. The number of fatal injuries in Britain fell to a record low last year according to the HSE. Provisional data shows that 133 workers were fatally injured between April 2013 and March 2014 compared to 150 the previous year. However, the number of deaths from mesothelioma rose from 2,291 in 2011 to 2,535 in 2012. Agriculture continues to have a relatively high number of fatal injuries with 27 being recorded last year which is lower than the industry average of 33. For further assistance or information on the issues discussed below, please call your nearest Strutt & Parker office.
1. Annual Review Health and safety policies and risk assessments should be reviewed on an annual basis. risk assessments also require reviewing when there is a significant change to how a task or operation is performed; for example, the purchase of a new tractor or piece of workshop equipment. Where work practices or personnel change it is important to review the task and ensure that it can still be carried out safely. With harvest complete it is worth reviewing how the harvest and cultivation campaign went; were there any accidents or near misses? and if so, have they been recorded correctly? Did something happen this year that has happened before that could have been avoided? Were employees made aware of the situation? All of this information should be documented and employees should be consulted on their thoughts. Health and safety requires a two-way dialogue, albeit with managers and owners leading by example. It is worth having an independent audit carried out on the farm every couple of years, as a professional will be aware of changes in legislation that you may not, and will see other systems of work which may prove more effective than those currently in place. Having a ‘fresh pair of eyes’ look over your documentation, yards and buildings can be beneficial as many people become familiar and complacent with their daily surroundings, which can lead to accidents.
2. Instructing Contractors The use of contractors on farms and estates is essential for some maintenance and specialist work. Ensuring that they are correctly recruited, appointed and their work monitored is essential to protect both yourself as an owner or manager but also your employees and the contractor. You should always clearly identify all aspects of the work you want the contractor to undertake, ensure that the contractor is competent (i.e. they have sufficient skills and knowledge) to do the job safely and without risks to health and safety. Make sure contractors know and understand what performance you expect and explain your health and safety arrangements to them. When identifying the work that you require, consider the preparation and completion phases, and anything you might be required to do before the contractors start. The level of risk will depend on the nature of the job. Whatever the risk, you need to consider the health and safety implications. These include; selecting someone suitable and competent, assessing the risks, deciding what information, instruction and training is required, agreeing how cooperation and co-ordination between all parties is achieved, how the workforce is to be consulted and the level of management and supervision required.
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3. Manual Handling Farm and estate work requires significant levels of manual handling. Injuries often occur, due to the lifting of heavy awkward loads and incorrect posture. Previous or existing injuries are also risk factors and can be implicated in the development of muscular skeletal disorders (MSD’s). Many injuries are caused or exacerbated by poor manual handling practices and can be a result of stresses and strains over a period of time rather than a single event. The Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 (as amended) set out a clear hierarchy of controls;
Avoid the need for hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable; Take appropriate steps to reduce the risk of injury; Provide mechanical assistance where possible; Provide information on the weight and nature of the load.
Avoid hazardous manual handling operations so far as is reasonably practicable, for example by redesigning the task to avoid moving the load or by automating or mechanising the process. Ensure all employees are suitably trained in manual handling.
4. Training Training is essential to ensure the safe operation of machines, equipment and other activities on farms and estates; it also shows your commitment to your principle asset; your employees. Training requires you to prioritise the requirements of your employees; the use of your local training provider can assist you in deciding what training is required. Providing effective training contributes towards employees competency, can help avoid distress that accidents and ill health cause, and can help avoid the financial costs of accidents and occupational ill health. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires that you provide whatever information, instruction and training is required to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of your employees. This is reinforced by the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which requires employers to identify situations where training is particularly important, e.g. when people start work, exposure to new or increased risks and where existing skills require updating. When looking at training requirements you should;
Decide what training is required; Decide your training priorities; Choose the training methods and resource; Deliver the training; Check that the training has worked.
5. Preventing Falls Falling from heights is one of the main causes of fatal accidents in agriculture. Accidents frequently occur during the maintenance and construction of buildings when temporary access measures are used. Precautions should be taken to ensure that;
Equipment is appropriate and not defective for the task; The equipment has been maintained properly; The task has been planned properly; A risk assessment has been carried out; The work area is clearly marked or cordoned off where necessary.
The use of a safe, stable working platform; the use of a scissor lift, a man cage or a scaffold tower should be used in preference to a ladder. Ladders should only be used when there is no safer alternative and only for short periods of time (minutes not hours). If a ladder is to be used, adhere to the following recommendations;
Use a ladder that is of the appropriate length or one that can be extended; Set the ladder at the correct height; Tie the ladder at the top to secure it; Use a ‘stand off’ spreader bar to provide a stable platform Always use a stable level base to foot the ladder.
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6. Slurry Storage There is a requirement for larger slurry storage for increasing numbers of livestock on farms to maximise profitability. There is also a requirement to be able to store slurry for longer periods as a result of the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone Regulations. These requirements pose an increased risk of accident. The risk of drowning or being injured due to a fall into a slurry store is a risk on farms. Recognising this risk is essential to enforcing suitable precautions which should be appropriate to the individual situation. Suitable fencing must surround slurry stores, tractor stop barriers, gates and covers for access points are essential and should be locked when not in use. Perimeter fences should be designed to deter access be properly erected and importantly maintained appropriately. Fences should be at least 1.3 metres (4 feet 3 inches) in height and include two strands of barbed wire at the top placed 100 to 150 mm apart (4 to 6 inches), if the use of barbed wire is not feasible or practical, then consider increasing the height of the fence to two metres (6 feet 6 inches). Gates should be clad in a solid sheet to prevent them from being climbed over. Below ground stores must have a suitable cover over them for the type of traffic that they are likely to experience. There should be no gaps greater than 75 mm (3 inches) between slats or alongside pump housing, pipes or hoses should be secured to a fixed object to prevent them from falling in, appropriate signage should be in place, informing people that the area is prohibited to unauthorised personnel. Covers should be heavy enough to prevent children from lifting them and kept locked when not in use. All fences, covers, locks and signage should be maintained on a regular basis to ensure they are in good serviceable condition. Storage of materials against or beside fences should be prohibited as this can provide an access route to get over the fence. Any ladders used to access stores should be removed when not in use and access hatches closed. Dangerous gases are produced by bacteria during the decomposition of slurry; these gases include methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide. The most dangerous is hydrogen sulphide, it is extremely poisonous to people and animals. At high concentrations it can debilitate sense of smell, cause difficulty in breathing and disorientation. Collapse and death can occur after only a few breaths as the gases displace air from the lungs and affect the nervous system. Hydrogen sulphide gas is formed within the slurry in the tank. Some gas may bubble to the surface but most remains dissolved in the slurry. When slurry is mixed, the gases are released immediately, the addition of other materials such as silage effluent can increase the quantity of gas produced. The rate of release is variable and difficult to predict which makes it all the more dangerous, the first 30 minutes being the most dangerous, the quantity of slurry gas released falls off as mixing continues. Each time pumps are repositioned to mix another part of the tank the gas concentration normally rises again and you should stay out of the building for at least another 30 minutes or longer, depending on the size of the tank. Hand held monitors are readily available and can, if properly maintained and calibrated, provide an additional safety precaution for farmers working with slurry but can only ever be a back-up to a safe system of work, not a substitute. Any person who enters a slurry tank must wear full breathing apparatus with its own air supply, a facemask is not suitable. Below ground stores are confined spaces and should only be entered by authorised fully trained competent personnel and have the necessary equipment to enter such areas safely. Specific procedures for entering confined spaces need to be followed. A safe system of work would include:
If possible, mix on a windy day; Keep children away from slurry working areas at all times; Take all animals out of a building before starting to mix slurry beneath the building; Open all doors and windows of the building; Use outside mixing points first; If slats are removed, cover exposed areas of the tank beside the pump/mixer to stop anything falling in; Start the pump/mixer and then stay out of the building for as long as possible – at least 30 minutes or longer depending on the size of the tank. If the pump position is moved stay out for at least another 30 minutes; If you have to go into the building make sure that another adult who knows what you are doing, stays outside the building and can get help if needed; Avoid naked flames, as slurry gas mixture is flammable; Do not stand close to the pump/exhaust of a vacuum tanker when it is being filled.
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