Farming
activities can pose risks to the health and safety of you and your employees around,
and also to any contractors or visitors, including walkers, hikers and
cyclists, that may come onto your farm land. Public safety and health should be
a part of your overall health and safety policy. In the farm land, it is
advisable to carry out a risk assessment; by this act you can minimize any
risks to those on your farm land.
Rights of way
If you have
people passing through on your farm land, you must minimize any risk of injury which
may occur to them. You must take care to make sure that any invited visitors
onto your farm land are reasonably safe, and that there are adequate warnings
of any danger.
Livestock
If in your
farm, an animal injures somebody or causes damage, you may be liable and held
responsible for it. If you have fields that are accessible by the public and
have livestock normally in them, you must make sure:
- That you do not keep bulls in fields with footpaths around
- That if you keep beef stock bulls in such fields, that they are accompanied by female stock and you put up suitable warning signs around
- That you assess the temperament of any cattle kept in fields with public access, and remove from the group any that may be aggressive among them
Disease control
As a farmer,
you have all the responsibility to ensure that you do not inadvertently spread
disease from your farm to humans, livestock or plants around. This means you
must observe strict hygiene and health standards when storing, transporting or
disposing of animal and plant matter. You must also report any incidents outbreak
to the proper authorities, and strictly follow their instructions in the event
of any disease outbreaks as well.
Open farms
If you open
your farm up to the general public, you have certain responsibilities under
health and safety law. Responsibility such as taking steps to protect people
from harmful micro-organisms in and around your farm land.
Child safety
There are
legal prohibitions on children under the age of 13 driving vehicles and
machines for agricultural operations, and on children riding on machines,
vehicles and farm implements to farming work. Older children of school age and
above may undertake some of these activities which are subject to conditions.
Public highways
You should
not obstruct a public highway or do anything that could cause inconvenience or
danger to the public. This includes leaving compost, dung, rubbish or mud on a
carriageway around your farm. Your farm should also include reflective road
signs to direct traffic when it comes onto your farm land. Hedges, trees and
shrubs should all be maintained to avoid any danger to the visiting public, and
you must ensure that any ditches around have proper drainage.
Spray drift
When using
pesticides, you must take reasonable precautions to protect human health and
safety and the environment at large. Any queries about the use of pesticides on
your farm should be directed to the HSE. It is your responsibility to ensure
that the general public is not affected by any chemical drift from spraying
operations on your farm land.
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