News Summary from December 2011

6 January 2012

Salmon farm drowning

 Risk assessment and instruction on use of boat and buoyancy equipment were inadequate.            Health and Safety Executive News  

Chicken factory spine injury

A worker had not been properly instructed. He injured his back when he fell from a ladder.    Health and Safety Executive News   

Poultry farm fall

A farm worker suffered serious injuries when he fell from a temporary platform made form poultry cages. The employer had identified the problem but taken no measures to resolve it.    Health and Safety Executive News  

Farm roof fall

Yet another typical work at height incident resulting in serious injury. The employer had failed to report it.      Health and Safety Executive News  

And another

A farm building contractor and subcontractor were fined when a worker fell from a pallet held by a tractor fork attachment.  Health and Safety Executive News  

Animal feed

A supervisor tried to clean a machine used for mixing animal feed.  Training, instruction and engineering controls were inadequate. The company had been prosecuted for a similar previous incident. Health and Safety Executive News  

Farm SHADS

See  farmers views at    Health and Safety Executive Resources and

 Health and Safety Executive SHADs Diary for diary of Shad events.

Airgun crime falls – Scotland

BASC asserts a fall in airgun crime in Scotland indicates a licensing system is unnecessary.  The British Association for Shooting and Conservation Media

Dogs – tapeworm

The EU has approved the retention of tapeworm controls for dogs entering the UK.    The British Association for Shooting and Conservation

£20 million!

A new £20 million fund to help rural businesses increase profits and reduce their impact on the environment has been launched.     DEFRA

2010-11 Agricultural statistics

View at       Health and Safety Executive Agriculture industry Statistics   

Pesticide Incidents Annual Report

During the year 2010/11, HSE staff investigated 79 reported pesticide incidents, 30 of which involved allegations of ill health. This is a decrease in the number of complaints alleging ill health from the previous years figure of 41 and 20 (40%) lower than the average over the previous ten years (2000/01 – 2010/11). The majority of people involved in reported incidents were members of the public.