Identify risks and dangers of agricultural machinery. List the main H&S rules that apply to your job.

1. Agricultural Machinery

2. Agricultural Machinery
You cannot beat horse power….
• Some of you love your tractors…..
• Farm lads used to love their horses!!!!
https://youtu.be/mwv8xY9qYfo?list=PLw7fy_uxP-
o_74N0EcEMHFCfULwqmRTZo

3. Agricultural Machinery
Much fitter than you…
• Horse lads used to plough how
many acres a day?
• And how far did they walk in a
day to do this?
• 1 acre a day
• Walked …..

4. Agricultural Machinery
1. Which horsepower is most
dangerous?
Today’s learning –
• Identify risks and dangers of agricultural machinery.
• List the main H&S rules that apply to your job.

5. Agricultural Machinery
Are horses more or less dangerous than tractors?
• What would the dangers be of ploughing with a horse?
• Kicked
• Bitten
• Foot trod on
• Foot run over by plough
• Slip fall

6. Agricultural Machinery
What are the dangers of a tractor?

7. Agricultural Machinery
SPOT THE HAZZARDS! (BEFORE IT’S TO
LATE!)
• There are many possible hazards associated with machinery.
• Many of these are made more dangerous by the sheer power of
modern machinery.
• Can you point the hazards on the following

8. Agricultural Machinery
Tractor S______ E_____
R______ p____
M_____ p_____
H____ p______
E_______
P______
O______ h____
Sharp Edges
Rotating parts
Moving parts
High pressure
Electrical Parts
Other hazards

9. Agricultural Machinery
The main areas / focus of hazards
• Moving Parts
• High Pressure
• Sharp Edges
• Rotating Parts
• Electrical Parts
• Other Hazards
M
H
S
R
E
O
To remember these, make up
your own word or sentence
Richard of York Gain Battle In
Vain
Colours of the rainbow
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,
Blue, Indigo, Violet

10. Agricultural Machinery
Plough
Sharp Edges
Rotating parts
Moving parts
High pressure
Electrical Parts
Other hazards?

11. Agricultural Machinery
Power Harrow

12. Agricultural Machinery
Power Harrow
Sharp Edges
Rotating parts
Moving parts
High pressure
Electrical Parts
Other hazards?

13. Agricultural Machinery
Cattle Crush

14. Agricultural Machinery
Cattle Crush
Sharp Edges
Rotating parts
Moving parts
High pressure
Electrical Parts
Other hazards?

15. Agricultural Machinery
Learning to look for dangers…..
• If you think along lines of these areas for each machine / situation it
will help you identify the risks…
• And write risk assessments…..

16. Agricultural Machinery
1) Sharp edges –
• On machines that chop or cut
materials like mowers, chainsaws,
bale and straw choppers – can
cause major cuts and injuries.

17. Agricultural Machinery
2) Rotating parts –
• In particular power take-off shafts
on tractors which can trap clothes,
hair or arms at a wind-in rate of 1.5
metres per second, but also other
rotating parts on machines like
potato harvesters and augers.

18. Agricultural Machinery
Tractor Safety
• http://nasdonline.org/1919/d001874/tractor-safety.html#6
https://youtu.be/pxLzIj68s5E

19. Agricultural Machinery
3) Moving parts –
• Conveyors, drive belts and
pulleys can trap hands and
arms while hydraulic arms or
trailer bodies can fall and trap
people.

20. Agricultural Machinery
4) High pressure –
• A jet of hydraulic oil or diesel fuel from a split pipe can cause major
damage to internal organs if injected into the body.
https://youtu.be/ClBXQ1dNYww

21. Agricultural Machinery
5) Electrical parts –
• Can cause shocks if they are faulty or used wrongly.

22. Agricultural Machinery
6) Other hazards –
• Such as exhaust fumes, noise
(which can cause hearing
damage) and whole body
vibration can damage limbs or
internal organs.

23. Agricultural Machinery
Some rules on tractors on roads…
• ‘Tractor’ (or a ‘category f tractor’) is defined in EU Regulation 167/2013.
• Covers vehicles that a layman would think of as a tractor, being a motor vehicle
designed to ‘pull, push, carry and actuate’ equipment to perform agricultural or
forestry work.
• Telescopic handlers (telehandlers) can also be type approved as tractors – the
operator can check his specific machine by referring to the manufacturer’s
information.
• Other telehandlers, along with combine harvesters, crop sprayers and
other agricultural machines fall into the wider definition of ‘agricultural
motor vehicles’.
• The weight limit for agricultural tractor and trailer combinations is 31
tonnes.
• The trailer itself is limited to 18.29 tonnes (including any load imposed on the tractor
through the hitch).

24. Agricultural Machinery
Telehandler etc weight limits
• A category B licence also allows the holder to drive other vehicles
which are registered as agricultural machines on the road.
• These include vehicles such as sprayers and telehandlers.
• However, there are age restrictions on the maximum vehicle weights
that can be driven by younger drivers:
• Agricultural vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes – minimum age 17
• Agricultural vehicles 3.5 tonnes to 7.5 tonnes – minimum age 18
• Agricultural vehicles over 7.5 tonne – minimum age 21

25. Agricultural Machinery
Rules of the road….
• List of ages and
what you can
do…
• 13 = drive on
farm
• 16 – take tractor
test
• 17?
• 18?
• 21?
Mark.Thompson@Askham-Bryan.ac.uk
Age What can you do /drive Limitations
13 It is illegal for children under the age of 13 years to either drive or ride on any all
agricultural machines including tractors, combines, sprayers, telehandlers and ATVs.
16 Take your tractor test (category F ) to
drive on the road
Restricted to driving an agricultural tractor
with a maximum width of 2.45m.
This width restriction applies to both the tractor and the trailer
with either a single axle or close coupled double axle.
17 Passed Car Test
Drive agricultural tractor on road subject
to same limitations as everyone else
Agricultural vehicles (combines, other
harvesters, sprayers, telehandlers) up to 3.5
tonnes – minimum age 17
18 Passed car test Agricultural vehicles 3.5 tonnes to 7.5 tonnes –
minimum age 18
21 Passed Car test Agricultural vehicles over 7.5 tonne –
minimum age 21
Category H – tracked vehicles
Tracked vehicles steered by their tracks are in a separate H
category. There is no automatic entitlement to drive vehicles in
category H linked to the B category

26. Agricultural Machinery
Provisional Licences
• Driving on provisional licences should only be for training purposes. Any
requirement to drive a vehicle for business purposes should be done on a
full licence only.
• Any person who is assisting an individual with the training of a vehicle
should be at least 21 years old or over, hold the relevant licence and be
experienced with the vehicle or machine which they supervising on.
• Vehicles under categories B1 (Light vehicles and Quadbikes), F (tractor), G
(road roller), H (track steered vehicle) and K (mowing machines and
pedestrian controlled vehicles) are not always designed to carry
passengers, meaning that learner drivers or operators are not required to
be supervised by an appropriately trained individual.
• Sufficient training on the vehicles or machines under these categories
should be carried out off-road before practicing on the public highway.

27. Agricultural Machinery
ATVs
• Training It is a legal requirement for
employers to provide adequate
training for employees who use
work equipment such as ATVs, and
to make sure that only employees
who have received appropriate
training in their safe use, including
the use of any towed equipment or
attachments, are permitted to ride
them.
• The same requirements apply to the
self-employed.

28. Agricultural Machinery
Why Does Health &Safety Matter?
• In the last 5 years an average 32 of people have died each year due
to Agricultural activities.
• The worker fatality rate is higher than any other industry sector.

29. Agricultural Machinery
Fatal
Injuries
• It will never
happen to you…
• I hope it does not
but…

30. Agricultural Machinery
Health and Safety – Legislation
• It is vitally important that you as an operator understand the codes of
practice in relation to H&S legislation.
• Below is listed a number of legislative codes relating to machinery
operation.
1. Health and Safety at Work act (HSWA 1974) –
2. Personal Protective Equipment Regulations (PPE 1992) –
3. Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER 1998) –
4. Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER 1998)
5. Manual Handling Operations Regulations (MHOR 1992) –

31. Agricultural Machinery
Health and Safety at Work act (HSWA 1974)
• A safe system/way of performing work
• A safe place to perform the work in
• Safe equipment and machinery to perform the work
• They must ensure work colleagues are competent in their roles
• They must carry out the relevant risk assessments
• Employers should be transparent and inform workers of any work-related
risks
• They should appoint a ‘competent person’ to oversee the health and safety
• Employers must consult with workplace safety representatives and set up a
workplace safety committee if a union is recognised
• Employers should provide adequate facilities for staff welfare

32. Agricultural Machinery
Personal Protective Equipment Regulations
(PPE 1992)
• Personal Protective
Equipment Regulations (PPE
1992) places a duty on every
employer in Great Britain to
ensure that suitable PPE is
provided to 'employees' who
may be exposed to a risk to
their health or safety while
at work.

33. Agricultural Machinery
Using any machine
• Health and Safety Regulations
• Should always refer to
• PUWER – 1998 Provision + Use of
Work Equipment Regulations

34. Agricultural Machinery
PUWER – What it says…..
• Regulation 4 Suitability of work equipment
• (1) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is so constructed
or adapted as to be suitable for the purpose for which it is used or
provided.
• (2) In selecting work equipment, every employer shall have regard to
the working conditions and to the risks to the health and safety of
persons which exist in the premises or undertaking in which that work
equipment is to be used and any additional risk posed by the use of
that work equipment.
• (3) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is used only for
operations for which, and under conditions for which, it is suitable.

35. Agricultural Machinery
PUWER – What it says…..
• Regulation 5 Maintenance
• (1) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment is maintained in
an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair.
• (2) Every employer shall ensure that where any machinery has a
maintenance log, the log is kept up to date.

36. Agricultural Machinery
Using any machine (tractor) for a job
• PUWER Applies….
• Equipment must be suitable for job only used for intended job
• Maintained in efficient order and good repair

37. Agricultural Machinery
Lifting Operations
• LOLER – Lifting Operations + Lifting
Equipment Regulations.
• LOLER requires that all equipment used
for lifting is fit for purpose, appropriate
for the task, suitably marked and, in
many cases, subject to statutory
periodic 'thorough examination'.

38. Agricultural Machinery
Manual Handling Operations
Regulations
(MHOR 1992)
• The employer shall so far as is reasonably
practicable, avoid the need for his
employees to undertake any manual
handling operations at work which involve a
risk of injury
• Where not possible, the employer shall
make a suitable and sufficient assessment
of all such operations which cannot be
avoided,
• The employer shall take appropriate steps
to reduce the risk of injury during those
operations to the lowest level reasonably
practicable

39. Agricultural Machinery 39
• Take reasonable care of their own health and safety and that of others
• Co-operate with the employer in discharging their duties under the act
Main Duties of Employees
Under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 - Section 7
And Under the Management of Health & Safety at Work
Regulations 1999
 Shout if you think there is a safety problem

40. Agricultural Machinery 40
• Take reasonable care of your own H&S
• Take care of others who may be affected by what you do
• Take care of others who may be affected by things that you fail to
do eg. reporting problems
• Co-operate with employer in meeting legal obligations
• Use all equipment and machinery provided safely
• Follow instructions and be ‘fit’ for work
• No alcohol
• Don’t fool around
• Wear P.P.E.
• Follow rules
• Competent
• Where do mobile phones fit into all this?
Main Duties of Employees = YOU
Under the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 - Section 7

41. Agricultural Machinery
Employees
• Use equipment safely
• Is training required?
• Follow Manufacturers' guidance
• What if don’t?
• ‘Clocking’ tractors!
• Stall tractor or smash implement!
• Reduce furrow width on vary
plough before turn over!
• Too much torque – wreck headstock

42. Agricultural Machinery
1. Which horsepower is most
dangerous?
Today’s learning –
• Identify risks and dangers of agricultural machinery.
• List the main H&S rules that apply to your job.