Health and Safety for Silage Season

We’re now in one of the busiest times on farms and it’s always helpful to get extra hands on board to help with the cutting, pitting and baling of quality silage. With more people on farm, health and safety practices are more important than ever to get right.

As silage season is underway, please be aware of the following:

• Ensure that all silage machinery is safe to use. Ensure that PTOs, brakes, lights, indicators are working properly
• Roadways, passages and yards are safe and fit for such machinery
• Ensure that drivers are aware of overhead electrical lines
• Place signage and safety bollards on the roads where silage equipment is entering and leaving fields and yards
• Drivers of silage equipment must take care on the roads and of other road users
• Long hours during silage harvesting can lead to tiredness, which can affect attention and responses, take a break if feeling tired
• Ensure that you eat healthily and regularly and keep hydrated to keep alert
• Always protect children, vulnerable adults, and others on the farm. Anyone who is not involved in silage making should be excluded frjom the farmyard during this busy time
• In cases where slurry is going out after silage, be careful when agitating tanks. Do not leave mixing points unguarded at any time.

First Published 21 May 2024