Safety Tips

1. Children and Visitors to the Farm

Farming and horticulture businesses are unique in that the workplace is also often home to the family. Strategies to protect children and visitors are critical to managing the risks of farm and horticultural businesses. ?What can you do about it?

Eliminate

Keep visitors and children within the house and gardens and away from the workplace and ensure they don’t wander onto the working property. Remove old hazards such as unused plunge dips and fill in old offal pits etc.

Isolate

Fence off natural water hazards, offal pits etc.
Cover offal pits.
Lock chemical stores (and shut doors of workshops etc. when children are around).
Ensure all guards are on operating machinery when children/visitors are around.
Remove keys from vehicles.

Minimise

Educate and train about risks and expected behaviour (e.g. how to behave with animals around).
Supervise children at all times.
Don’t store chemicals in soft drink containers.
Repair items such as frayed electrical cords.
Enforce ‘no go’ areas.
If a school party is coming for a visit, ask a teacher to visit first and explain all the safety ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’.

2. Vehicles and Machinery

Vehicle injuries account for 18% of all injuries on dairy farms and 11% of all injuries on sheep and beef farms. Injuries from the use of ATVs, particularly ATV rollovers, are a significant factor on dairy farms arising from things such as collisions with objects, driving into holes or animals, inadvertent machinery movement, lurching/jerks in vehicles, mechanical malfunction, misjudgement, goods shifting/becoming loose, overturning, loss of control, punctures, skidding etc.
As you review these safety tips, think about whether you wish to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazard on your rural property …

Quad bikes and Motorbikes

Ensure Quad bikes and motorbikes are regularly serviced and maintained. Daily checks before use are also desirable.
Helmets should be worn at all times when riding an Quad bike or motorbike.
Training should be given to all riders to ensure that they have the skills to operate the Quad bike or motorbike in any situation.
Know and discuss the limitations of the vehicle in any situation: e.g. the effect of slopes, speed, weather conditions, uneven surface, etc.
Spray tanks, fertiliser spreaders, carry frames, silage trailers.
No passengers unless seat and footrests are available.
Environmental conditions are assessed.
The Department of Labour has recently released Guidelines for the safe use of quad bikes. This document provides practical advice and explains responsibility under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992.

Other Vehicles and Machinery

Tractors should be regularly serviced and maintained and safe to operate.
Assess operator skills: provide the training, skills and supervision necessary to operate the vehicle safely.
Ensure operator is aware of any legal requirements, i.e. age, licence requirements, etc.
Ensure operator is familiar with any other hazards where he or she is working.
Ensure operator has knowledge of the vehicle’s limitations for whatever situation or circumstance.
Ensure suitable shield/guard is in place over the PTO shaft.
Do not work/walk under an elevated front-end loader.
Lower the front-end loader to ground when parked.
Ensure operator is aware of the effect of the front-end loader when operating on hills.
Ensure hydraulic hoses and pipes are maintained and are in good order.
No loose clothing to be worn while operating machines, long hair tied back.
Switch off, or shut down machine, before dismounting tractor to carry out any repairs or maintenance.
Guards must never be removed for any reason while machine is in operation.
All drive shafts, V-belt type drives, chain/sprocket type drives, PTO’s, must have appropriate guards in place.
Never work underneath an unsupported trailer when tipping.
Ensure hydraulic systems are fully maintained.
Ensure loads are secured correctly and safety.
Do not overload trailer.
Check for overhead powerlines and other such hazards, before tipping trailer.
For other machinery use lockout switches on control panels before doing any maintenance.
Farm tracks and bridges should be well maintained and wide enough for farm vehicles.

3. Lifting Stacking and Moving Objects

18% of injuries on dairy farms and 28% of injuries on sheep and beef farms are caused by the manual handling of objects..
As you review these safety tips, think about whether you wish to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazard on your rural property…

Ensure all staff are trained in correct lifting techniques.
Reduce the likelihood of injuries by redesigning equipment and storage facilities.
Employ mechanical assistance where possible.
Only allow those employees that are physically able to lift in particular situations.
Ensure proper handling facilities for animals.
Ensure good facilities for agrichemical storage and handling.
Buy supplies in appropriate weight bags.
Know the weight of products manually stacked.
Consider the personal level of fitness necessary to meet the requirements of the job.

4. Slips, Trips and Falls

Around 13% of all injuries on dairy farms and 7% of all injuries on sheep and beef farms involve a trip, slip or fall. Often eliminating the risk factor is a five-minute job.

As you review these safety tips, think about whether you wish to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazard on your rural property…

Ensure ‘tripping’ hazards are clearly identified.
Install handrails where people might fall from floor edges.
Keep workplaces tidy and uncluttered.
Floors, yards and gangways are kept clean and non-slippery.
Ensure steps, ramps and catwalks have slip-resistant surfaces.
Ensure damaged surfaces are fixed promptly and maintained.
Ear tagging/vaccination can be a hazardous technique – attend to stock when young with the correct equipment and a good facility. Provide training for inexperienced staff.
Ensure lighting is adequate.

5. Workplace Noise

There are a number of jobs on a farm or horticulture property that either generate noise or involve working in a noisy environment..
As you review these safety tips, think about whether you wish to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazard on your rural property…

Provide and use the correct protective equipment when undertaking tasks that involve or generate significant* noise.
Ensure staff are warned about the dangers of noise and are instructed in the use of hearing protectors.
Ensure excessively noisy areas and any noisy machines and equipment are identified, and measures to reduce the noise are considered.
Ensure hearing protectors give adequate protection for the level and type of noise.
Ensure machinery is maintained to reduce excessive noise, e.g. exhaust and muffler systems.
NB ‘significant’ = > (or equal to) 85dB, e.g. chainsaw

6. Workplace OOS

There are a number of jobs done on the property that contribute to the condition of Occupational Overuse Syndrome.
As you review these safety tips, think about whether you wish to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazard on your rural property…

Lead your staff by recognising the condition and the contributing factors.
Have policies and systems that recognise and control the causes of OOS.
Ensure people have right physique for the job they are doing.
Rotate jobs between staff.

Train staff in preventative techniques:

use good ergonomic equipment
micropauses during work
warm-up and warm down exercises
using left and right positions alternatively
early reporting of condition.

7. Injury by Livestock

22% of all injuries on dairy farms and 35% of injuries on sheep and beef farm involve animals.
As you review these safety tips, think about whether you wish to eliminate, isolate or minimise the hazard on your rural property…

Train all staff in handling, moving and treating livestock.
Ensure all staff are aware of the unpredictable nature of the different breeds and classes of livestock.
Provide well-designed and well-maintained facilities for the handling of livestock.
Ensure catwalks and other handling areas are designed to reduce the chance of slips and falls.
Identify and consider culling any animals that show aggressive temperament and behaviour when being handled.
Ensure all involved in the farm are trained in the correct lifting techniques for young stock.
Understand the implications of zoonotic diseases and their transmission.
Encourage staff to practice good personal hygiene to avoid infection through cuts etc.
Provide protective clothing to be worn when applying certain animal health products.
Pregnant women are not to handle CIDRs and should not assist with lambing/calving.
Protect children and ensure that they are supervised around animals.
Have someone with you to assist when the task requires more than one person.
Dehorn all cattle.