Alan Down, with an address at Main Road, Sellindge, Ashford, Kent, came before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court in recent days.
In August 2020, the worker was unblocking the potato harvester when he stepped down onto the rollers.
The worker was pulled leg first into the machine and became stuck up to his knee.
This resulted in burns to the leg, a pulled hamstring, a torn calf and broken nerves. He also sustained hairline fractures to the knee and ankle.
A HSE-led investigation that the farmer had failed to implement a ‘safe stop procedure’ to isolate power and stop rollers moving before the worker accessed them.
Down pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 11(1)(b) of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998.
In court, the judge ordered him to pay £4,992 and costs to the tune of £5,805 (over €10,700 in total).
Farm accidents
Following the hearing, HSE inspector, Sam Brown said:
“The agricultural industry accounts for around 1% of the workforce in Great Britain, yet, it accounts for 20% of worker deaths.”
“Many of these deaths are due to poor working practices while carrying out maintenance on machinery.”
“In addition, many more workers are seriously injured each year due to unsafe working practices while working on machinery.”
“Too often we see incidents like this, where maintenance is carried out on live machinery and the principles of ‘safe stop’ and safe maintenance are ignored.”
“Those undertaking maintenance work on agricultural machinery should ensure they follow the principles of ‘safe stop’ to prevent putting people at risk of injury,” Brown concluded.
Other news on That’s Farming:
A poacher has pleaded guilty, in court, for trespassing in search of game on land in the UK.
Mitchel Cannon (26), with an address at Sleights, North Yorkshire, appeared before court on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022, following Humberside Police’s rural taskforce’s investigation.
See more.
