Safe maintenance

Many serious incidents on farms involve machinery, often during maintenance or unblocking. In maintenance work, conditions are very different from those normally encountered and new hazards may be introduced. It is essential that everyone involved is trained to be aware of the hazards and the correct precautions to take to prevent harm.

Safe stop

Safe stop logo

  • Engage handbrake
  • Controls in neutral
  • Switch off engine (or turn off power)
  • Remove key (or lock-off the power supply)

Safe stop steps

Follow Safe Stop:

Before you start maintenance work

When you are planning to carrying out maintenance operations follow the 'safe stop' procedure and make sure:

Dealing with blockages or other problems

Isolating equipment

Isolate machines before any maintenance, cleaning or adjustment. It is not enough just to switch the machine off – you need to use the main isolator, usually a separate control. If the machine is at some distance from the isolator, or if work in progress is not obvious, remove the fuses from the isolator box and attach a 'danger' tag to it, or lock the isolator box and keep the key safe.

Pressurised plant

Any plant or equipment under pressure, such as slurry tankers, boilers and air receivers, may burst violently. Reduce the chances of this happening and anyone being killed or injured. Make sure:

2022-01-06