What I did this Week to make Farming safer .

Local contractor asked would I take his 17yr old son for the summer but I declined. Was told just now that he was tragically killed this morning at a local quarry. He got a job there with a water tanker keeping down the dust. The water tanker is 24k litres. Seems it took off and went over a cliff. RIP.
 
Hello everyone, I've been following this thread for a while and I'm really impressed by the proactive steps everyone is taking to make farming safer. This week, I conducted a thorough inspection of all machinery to ensure they are in good working condition and pose no safety risks. I believe these small steps can go a long way in preventing accidents. Looking forward to hearing more safety tips from this community!
 
The HSA are rambling around, a farmer told me that he had an unannounced visit from them yesterday
 
bagenal said:
The HSA are rambling around, a farmer told me that he had an unannounced visit from them yesterday
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We had a lad in from them a few years ago but it was a carrot approach, he basically just walked around with us and pointed out minor things, said they weren’t really going after anything bar it was a major violation that he couldn’t ignore. But was just giving a gentle nudge, advised us to put a rail on a step which was fair and other than that it was grand. Have had the other approach from them before though too minute they walk in your guilty until they are finished
 
I was talking to a local farmer who has an unannounced HSA visit about a month ago. Inspector was ok to deal with, was not there to prosecute anyone, more so only to give advice.

One thing he did point out was that they were recommending that all new gates be manufactured with vertical bars rather than horizontal bars, He said it was to try and stop children from climbing over the gates and accessing area’s they should not be in.
 
sparkey said:
I was talking to a local farmer who has an unannounced HSA visit about a month ago. Inspector was ok to deal with, was not there to prosecute anyone, more so only to give advice.

One thing he did point out was that they were recommending that all new gates be manufactured with vertical bars rather than horizontal bars, He said it was to try and stop children from climbing over the gates and accessing area’s they should not be in.
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Safety is definitely an area that can't be taken for granted in any industry, including the agricultural industry. Simple improvements can make a huge difference. While unannounced inspections are probably not always convenient, they do help one to focus on improvements.
That recommendation from the inspector, for gates with vertical bars is interesting. While his logic for preventing children from accessing areas they should not be in, makes sense, would it prevent someone from escaping a potential incident in an emergency situation? For example if one was in a pen with livestock for whatever reason, and needed to escape the pen, if an animal became aggressive, a gate with horizontal bars, rather than vertical bars would be easier and quicker to climb over, should one need to get out, assuming one doesn't have the luxury of enough time to open said gate.
 
Agri-Eng said:
Safety is definitely an area that can't be taken for granted in any industry, including the agricultural industry. Simple improvements can make a huge difference. While unannounced inspections are probably not always convenient, they do help one to focus on improvements.
That recommendation from the inspector, for gates with vertical bars is interesting. While his logic for preventing children from accessing areas they should not be in, makes sense, would it prevent someone from escaping a potential incident in an emergency situation? For example if one was in a pen with livestock for whatever reason, and needed to escape the pen, if an animal became aggressive, a gate with horizontal bars, rather than vertical bars would be easier and quicker to climb over, should one need to get out, assuming one doesn't have the luxury of enough time to open said gate.
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Good point. Also a gate with mainly vertical bars is going to be much weaker and will be bent easily by cattle.
 
sparkey said:
I was talking to a local farmer who has an unannounced HSA visit about a month ago. Inspector was ok to deal with, was not there to prosecute anyone, more so only to give advice.

One thing he did point out was that they were recommending that all new gates be manufactured with vertical bars rather than horizontal bars, He said it was to try and stop children from climbing over the gates and accessing area’s they should not be in.
Click to expand...

Agri-Eng said:
Safety is definitely an area that can't be taken for granted in any industry, including the agricultural industry. Simple improvements can make a huge difference. While unannounced inspections are probably not always convenient, they do help one to focus on improvements.
That recommendation from the inspector, for gates with vertical bars is interesting. While his logic for preventing children from accessing areas they should not be in, makes sense, would it prevent someone from escaping a potential incident in an emergency situation? For example if one was in a pen with livestock for whatever reason, and needed to escape the pen, if an animal became aggressive, a gate with horizontal bars, rather than vertical bars would be easier and quicker to climb over, should one need to get out, assuming one doesn't have the luxury of enough time to open said gate.
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How close would the bars need to be though to stop a young child slipping between them? Be better off recommending meshing the outside of the gate so you could climb out if needed.

Also I know of one guy that got away from an attack as the gate was high enough to roll under.
 
drew said:
How close would the bars need to be though to stop a young child slipping between them? Be better off recommending meshing the outside of the gate so you could climb out if needed.

Also I know of one guy that got away from an attack as the gate was high enough to roll under.
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With domestic gates, the applicable standards dictate that there can be no more than 100mm (4") between the vertical bars, for at least the bottom 460mm (18"), which would mean a lot more material would be required for a farm gate with horizontal bars verses vertical bars. The gate with vertical bars would be heavier and potentially would be more dangerous in the wind, from having a greater infill of material (wind trap), which would also be a worry for a wide gate.
Your idea for mesh on the gate, would solve a lot of problems.
Sometimes, when the rule makers come straight from college with no practical experience of the industry they are making the rules/recommendations for, there can be many secondary issues with the rules, which can potentially have disasterous consequences for the people they are trying to protect. Common sense and practical experience/knowledge are a prerequisite for anyone in such a position of power, to bring about meaningful change for the greater good.
 
Agri-Eng said:
With domestic gates, the applicable standards dictate that there can be no more than 100mm (4") between the vertical bars, for at least the bottom 460mm (18"), which would mean a lot more material would be required for a farm gate with horizontal bars verses vertical bars. The gate with vertical bars would be heavier and potentially would be more dangerous in the wind, from having a greater infill of material (wind trap), which would also be a worry for a wide gate.
Your idea for mesh on the gate, would solve a lot of problems.
Sometimes, when the rule makers come straight from college with no practical experience of the industry they are making the rules/recommendations for, there can be many secondary issues with the rules, which can potentially have disasterous consequences for the people they are trying to protect. Common sense and practical experience/knowledge are a prerequisite for anyone in such a position of power, to bring about meaningful change for the greater good.
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4” gaps is a lot of steel in a 12/14/16ft gate, even if majority of the mm were only say 10mm bar as blockers it’s a lot of steel. Considering most of the “heavy duty” “field” gates on the market now are barely strong enough to hold a gust of wind i don’t see any of them taking that extra without a lot of re thinking.

The current design of most are atrocious with the way they are done. Horizontal bars should be run in continuous lengths throughout the gate with vertical spacers welded between them rather than the current rubbish of welding horizontals between verticals which makes for a very weak gate the buckles for nothing
 
sparkey said:
I was talking to a local farmer who has an unannounced HSA visit about a month ago. Inspector was ok to deal with, was not there to prosecute anyone, more so only to give advice.

One thing he did point out was that they were recommending that all new gates be manufactured with vertical bars rather than horizontal bars, He said it was to try and stop children from climbing over the gates and accessing area’s they should not be in.
Click to expand...
Vertical bars makes for a very heavy gate as they would have to be close together to stop a small child getting through.
 
hanixman said:
a sheeted gate can be just as dangerous if they catch the wind
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A very fair point. A lot easier to do if making a sliding gate which imo suit entrances a lot better if they can work as you don’t have to worry about which way the gate opens when you pull up to it.
 
drew said:
A very fair point. A lot easier to do if making a sliding gate which imo suit entrances a lot better if they can work as you don’t have to worry about which way the gate opens when you pull up to it.
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I think there was a teenage girl killed in monaghan last year when a sliding gate fell on her
 
whelan1 said:
I think there was a teenage girl killed in monaghan last year when a sliding gate fell on her
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Like everything they do have potential but a properly designed one with pillars to support it shouldn’t really be able to fall.
 
drew said:
4” gaps is a lot of steel in a 12/14/16ft gate, even if majority of the mm were only say 10mm bar as blockers it’s a lot of steel. Considering most of the “heavy duty” “field” gates on the market now are barely strong enough to hold a gust of wind i don’t see any of them taking that extra without a lot of re thinking.

The current design of most are atrocious with the way they are done. Horizontal bars should be run in continuous lengths throughout the gate with vertical spacers welded between them rather than the current rubbish of welding horizontals between verticals which makes for a very weak gate the buckles for nothing
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Yes, I definitely agree, an awful lot of gates on the market nowadays are very weak due to their design and will buckle with little or no force applied. However, there must be a market for such wares, which I would imagine is all down to cost, as every hardware and farm supplies yards are full of them. It is hard to beat a homemade gate with the horizontal bars made from 2" galvanised piping.
 
My preference would be for gates fitted with welded mesh, meets the wind and anti-climb criteria.

Insurance companies dont like fully sheeted gates as lads have been seriously injured by the same.

Hsa inspectors are in general sound when doing random inspections. You can reschedule if you need to undertake other duties or head to the mart. So an unscheduled inspection can technically be scheduled.

Alot of people's only interaction with the hsa is after an accident has occurred. This is results in the hsa having a different mindset and attitude to a casual inspection.
 
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Agri-Eng said:
Safety is definitely an area that can't be taken for granted in any industry, including the agricultural industry. Simple improvements can make a huge difference. While unannounced inspections are probably not always convenient, they do help one to focus on improvements.
That recommendation from the inspector, for gates with vertical bars is interesting. While his logic for preventing children from accessing areas they should not be in, makes sense, would it prevent someone from escaping a potential incident in an emergency situation? For example if one was in a pen with livestock for whatever reason, and needed to escape the pen, if an animal became aggressive, a gate with horizontal bars, rather than vertical bars would be easier and quicker to climb over, should one need to get out, assuming one doesn't have the luxury of enough time to open said gate.
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Presumably, you are meant to have a pass through point for quick exit, or a safety cage you can get behind.
 
MasseyS said:
Presumably, you are meant to have a pass through point for quick exit, or a safety cage you can get behind.
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Yes, definitely a good point, but does a pass through point defeat the purpose of preventing unauthorised access for children or others to danger areas. An internal safety cage probably would address this issue, but I wonder if many around the country have such features installed? Personally speaking, I think that the pass through point in some shape or form is a vital safety feature, for anyone dealing with livestock.
 
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