HSENI reminds farmers about the dangers of silage season
Date published:
The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is reminding farmers and contractors to take extra care when carrying out grass cutting and silage making operations during this very demanding time for the farming community.
Working with high powered and fast-moving grass machinery, rolling (buckraking) grass, and covering grass silos are all particularly dangerous activities and the risk is increased further by operator fatigue due to the long hours worked to get the job done as quickly as possible.
To reduce the risk of serious incidents it is essential that all the work activities are carefully planned.
Acting Agri-Team Principal Inspector David Lowe said: “Any tractors and grass cutting equipment used should be well maintained and carefully checked before use to ensure that gears and brakes are working effectively and that all PTO’s and moving parts are fully guarded.
“Filling silos and rolling grass during silage making is skilled and challenging work which should only be carried out by trained and experienced drivers.
“There is a high risk of vehicles overturning due to the uneven and soft ground conditions and the steep gradients involved and any vehicles used for this work must have an approved safety cab or ‘roll bar’ together with a correctly fitted seat restraint to protect the driver.
“Extreme care is also required when the silo cover is being put in place. There is always a high risk of people falling from height when covering the silo but there is also a significant danger of being trapped beneath the silage cover. Nobody should go underneath the cover once it has been fixed in place - the fermenting grass uses up the oxygen under the cover very quickly and the level of harmful gases increase rapidly.
“Fatigue due to long working hours, poor weather conditions, difficult ground conditions, inexperienced operators and using mobile phones when driving all add greatly to the risks during silage making and I am asking farmers and contractors to take extra care during this time.”
For more safety information please see the link below:
Notes to editors :
- The Farm Safety Partnership’s ongoing ‘Stop and Think SAFE’ farm safety campaign focuses on the four main causes of death and injury on our farms – slurry, animals, falls and equipment (SAFE).
- The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body, sponsored by the Department for the Economy.
- For media enquiries please contact: HSENI Press Office on 028 9024 3249, or email media@hseni.gov.uk. For Out of Office Hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110.