Keeping vehicles, machinery and equipment well maintained is one of the best ways of helping to keep you and others on farm safe. This can apply to any piece of equipment you run, for instance tractors, trailers, ATVs, towed appliances, farm vehicles, handheld machines etc.
Regular maintenance
Regular maintenance of vehicles, machines and equipment will help to ensure that they stay compliant with The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998, particularly regarding:
- Keeping vehicles, machinery and equipment safe and suitable for the intended use, and
- Ensuring the vehicles, machinery and equipment have the appropriate health and safety measures.
It is important to ensure that maintenance is carried out by appropriately trained persons, and appropriate safety measures are taken when completing maintenance, such as using chocks or a jack to support a tipper trailer bed, rather than relying on the trailer hydraulics to keep the trailer bed in the air while maintenance is taking place.
Farm building maintenance
The winter months can also provide a good opportunity to carry out maintenance on farm buildings, such as clearing out gutters and repairs to rooves etc. Where possible, measures should be taken to reduce the need to work at height, such as using telescopic gutter cleaners. Where work at height is required, appropriately trained contractors should be hired with appropriate equipment such as cherry pickers and fall arrest systems to carry out the work.
Transport related fatal injuries and falls from height are two of the biggest causes of fatal injuries in agriculture in Wales. Appropriate measures and care should always be taken when carrying out any activity involving transport or working at height.
