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UK News - Breaking news in the field of health and safety
HSE INSPECTORS FIND SHORTCOMINGS AT SUFFOLK FARMS
HSE INSPECTORS FIND SHORTCOMINGS AT SUFFOLK FARMS
Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive visited 171 farms in Suffolk during a week-long blitz in November - issuing 78 Improvement Notices and 30 Prohibition Notices to those failing to meet legal standards.
The inspectors visited the farms to look at health and safety standards, both giving advice and using enforcement procedures as appropriate.
Richard Bulmer, HM Principal Inspector of Health and Safety for this initiative, said:
"Many farms were identified as having good proactive health and safety systems in place. Lots of farmers had done their homework and displayed a sensible conscientious approach. However, the blitz identified many shortcomings and it was sad that in this day and age HSE inspectors were obliged to serve enforcement notices on such well known hazards as PTO shaft guarding. [Power Take Off - see notes to editors]
"People working in agriculture continue to be among those most likely to come to harm because of their work. In most cases the causes are easily preventable and the solutions simple and inexpensive to implement. Unfortunately it is also true that there continues to be a significant number of farmers who see training as an unnecessary burden and who need to make better use of local training groups."
The visits were made by appointment although some spot checks and unannounced visits were also made. They were part of a range of initiatives being conducted by the Health and Safety Executive aimed at reducing the toll of deaths, serious injury and ill health on farms. Inspectors gave farmers advice on how to control risks arising from farm transport, working at height, child safety, manual handling and occupational asthma. These hazards give rise to most cases of injury and ill health in agriculture.
Improvement Notices are issued when there is a breach of health & safety law but not immediate risk. The firm is given typically two months to comply and put it right. Failure to comply can lead to prosecution. A Prohibition Notice is issued when there is an immediate risk, which means the business must stop the relevant activity until the problem is fixed to the HSE's satisfaction.
Notes to editors
1. All HSE inspectors may enter any workplace at any reasonable hour and expect the co-operation of the occupier under the powers granted to them under Section 20 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
2. The Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee brings together all parts of the industry to advise the Health and Safety Commission (HSC).
3. These results relate to visits to Suffolk farms conducted between November 8 and November 12, 2004.
4. The power take off (PTO) shaft is a metal shaft used to power implements attached behind the tractor. It is connected between the tractor and the implement and rotates at either 540rpm or 1000rpm, depending on the implement. Implements relying on a PTO shaft to provide power include power harrows (a cultivation tool), slurry tankers, potato and sugar beet harvesters and balers. It has been a requirement for PTOs to be guarded for many years and serious and fatal injuries have been caused where the guard has not been fitted.
Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by Government News Network East.
