College fined for lack of safety systems

January 15 2011

Many members will have seen the recent HSE press release referring to the recent prosecution of Writtle Agricultural College by HSE.  The College was fined £7000 for a breach of HSWA section 2(1) and £5000 for a breach of PUWER Reg 11 and were ordered to pay full costs of £1985.65.  Further details are available at Health and Safety Executive Web site

A college employee who was also a student was seen by a HSE Inspector using a Hesston baler without a power take off (PTO) guard. Further investigation found that the baler had previously been used numerous times without the guard and six other machines were identified as having problems with their PTO guards.   There was a lack of training, monitoring and supervision to ensure that the baler and other agricultural machinery were suitably guarded.

Inspector Keith Waller said ‘  "As an agricultural college, training the farmers of the future, Writtle should take its health and safety responsibilities very seriously. The farming students that graduate from the college are entering an industry which, according to HSE statistics released last month, is now officially the UK's most dangerous industry.’’
 
IOSH supports HSE's current initiative to drive down the high fatal incident rate in agriculture and the IOSH Rural Industries Group encourages all members working in the education and agriculture sectors to be aware of this case and discuss its implications whenever possible. In medium / large organisations, i.e. those with a management structure, it is particularly important that senior managers and those at director level are actively engaged in their health and safety management system to ensure that monitoring and audit systems are working effectively.
 
Writtle College has provided an assurance that safety management systems have been improved"

Prepared by Mr Graham Munford, IOSH Rural Industries Group Chair.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Where the content includes discussion and information about UK law or occupational health matters, this should not be regarded as legal or medical advice. Where legal advice is required, a suitably qualified lawyer should be consulted. Where medical advice is required, a suitably qualified medical practitioner should be consulted.