After three fatal accidents in Northumberland during harvesting in the last two years, Peter Dodman, the Health and Safety Executive's principal inspector responsible for agriculture in the North East urges farmers and contractors to take particular care this year when using harvesting equipment.

Harvest time is the busiest time of all for many North East farms. From first light, often until well after dark with the aid of powerful lighting, farmers all over the region will be working to gather in the summer's harvest. It's exhausting work, and it's easy to lose sight of the dangers that can turn a routine day into one that changes lives forever through injury and possibly death.

In July 2005, a Northumberland farmer suffered fatal injuries while working under the cab of his combine harvester with the engine running. It is believed that he moved the header height lever, causing the header to rise and crush him against the underside of the cab. Any work of this type should be done by people who are fully familiar with the controls and operating functions of the equipment and with the engine turned off.

A year earlier, in August 2004 a Northumberland farmer was killed when his parked combine harvester rolled down a slight incline and crushed him against its parked header unit as he was setting up to cut. It was the first time the machine had been used that season. The handbrake was not fully effective or properly maintained. Also, the farmer did not follow the recommended "Safe Stop" procedure, which includes turning off the engine. Coincidentally, within a few days a second farmer died in a similar accident in Oxfordshire.

Also in that year, a retired farm worker helping out with the harvest was also killed when he fell from the grain bucket of a telescopic handler when he was being lifted up in it. This is an extremely dangerous practice, and over the years has resulted in many fatalities. If access is needed using a telehandler or fork-lift then a suitable man-riding cage or basket, with guard rails all round and securely fixed to the forks, should be used. The driver should also be properly trained and assessed.

These very tragic incidents reflect the two main causes of fatal and serious accidents in agriculture, namely vehicle-related incidents and falls from a height. Most of these accidents can be prevented if farmers and contractors are aware of the risks and the precautions they need to take, and if they actually take those precautions.

There is a lot of free advice and practical information available for the industry if people choose to access it. This includes HSE's free publications and the agriculture pages of the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk.

The website also contains very helpful self-assessment pages. These help farmers to do their own risk assessments and give them advice on the practical precautions they need to take.

The industry still has a relatively poor safety record and everyone in it should be working to prevent further tragedies, particularly like those during last year's harvest.




Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by Government News Network North East.