Transport

Transport and transport related accidents are the largest single cause of fatal injuries in the agricultural sector. The most common scenarios involve moving vehicles and being trapped or crushed when vehicles overturn. Many of these accidents are caused by a lack of operator training and poor visibility. The following examples show how easily deaths and serious injuries can occur, but just as importantly, how some straightforward steps could have prevented them from occurring.

• Lone working - gamekeeper found dead following accident on an ATV - Borders country estate fined £3,000 after admitting a health and safety breach in connection with a gamekeeper's death
• ATVs - Training and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) - Farmer prosecuted for failing to provide adequate training in the safe use of All Terrain Vehicles
• Adequate Seating - a 15 year old casual worker received serious head injuries after falling from the rear of a vehicle
• Suitable braking - a tractor fitted with a loader and trailer carrying bales went out of control and overturned causing a RTA
• Poor visibility - a lorry driver was hit by a grain bucket attached to a telescopic loader
• Unsafe system through lack of training and maintenance of FLT - an employee was hit by falling metal framework balanced on the forks of a FLT
• Interference with safety equipment - removal of protective cage, seat bar and interlock switches on a skid steer loader caused fatal accident
• Lack of training and driver restraining systems - an employee was killed when FLT overturned trapping him beneath the safety frame
• Lack of formal training and safety helmet - an employee sustained back injuries when his quad bike overturned backwards falling on top of him
• Unmaintained handbrake - a farm worker was trapped between a straw chopper and a tractor and injured his legs.
• Poor traffic management - an employee was run over by a rough terrain forklift truck whilst he was handling plants
• Maintenance of brakes - fatality of neighbouring farmer caused by the lack of adequate maintenance on the vehicle.
• Safety through training and maintenance - lorry driver lost both legs when an overloaded and unmaintained telescopic handler fell forward onto him.
• Repairing defects - employee killed when he was run over while trying to start a faulty tractor while stood next to it.
• Segregating pedestrians from vehicles - employee had foot crushed while working near moving vehicles.
• Poor visibility for driver proves fatal - worker killed when trapped between a JCB and a trailer while helping to unload.
• All Terrain Vehicles (ATV's) - work experience trainee suffered head injuries after falling from an ATV.
• Employees & visitors need to be made aware of safety rules at visited sites - An employee died when he was crushed against a mobile cleaning machine by a forklift truck.