Cornish Mutual Health & Safety Guide

HEALTH AND SAFETY GUIDE

Helping to make your farm safer

Farming Insurance Experts

Our aim is to help protect and support you, your business and the local community. This Health & Safety guide takes you through some of the legal obligations you have as a business owner and provides information on the steps that you can take to safeguard yourself, and the welfare of your employees and the public.

The agricultural industry currently has one of the worst rates of fatal injuries of all UK industries, and we want to work with you to make farming safer. By considering and implementing Health and Safety practices, work related risks can be reduced which will create a safer working environment for you, your family and your employees.

When looking at Health & Safety, there are four key areas to consider:

• Risk assessments

• Work equipment inspections

• Incident reporting

• Employee training

This guide takes you through each of these areas and provides easy to use template documents that detail how to assess and record risks, comply with regulations, report incidents and record training.

After working through the four Health and Safety areas, you will be able to complete your Health and Safety Policy, which is included with the other templates at the back of this guide.

If you would like to talk to someone about Health & Safety on your farm and receive additional support through our trusted Health & Safety Services, please call your local Field Insurance Advisor or one of our dedicated, friendly advisors on 01872 277151

This document contains general information and therefore cannot and should not be relied upon for advice relating to your specific business and / or specific circumstances. It remains your sole responsibility to comply with current health and safety legislation, regulations and guidance and as such Cornish Mutual recommends you seek advice specific to your business and / or circumstances. Adherence to items contained within this document does not evidence compliance of any such legislation. Cornish Mutual accepts no responsibility or liability towards any person and / or business who may rely upon this document.

Risk assessments

Risk assessments are a legal requirement for all UK businesses and we strongly advise that all farming and commercial businesses complete risk assessments – even those with fewer than 5 employees.

Carrying out risk assessments across your business will help you identify potential hazards - a good risk assessment should be the result of a thorough review and evaluation of the risks present during daily business activities. This process will enable you to consider, recommend and implement control measures that improve the safety of the working environment for yourself, employees and members of the public.

Risk assessments are the starting point for protecting everyone from harm, and form the foundation of a positive Health and Safety culture within your business.

At the back of this guide are a number of risk assessment templates that you can complete for your business. The next section takes you through a step-by-step guide for completing and documenting a risk assessment.

How to complete a risk assessment:

Type of risk assessment (e.g. livestock handling, using farm machinery, children on farms, working at heights):

Business name (e.g your farm’s name):

Risk assessment completed by:

Date risk assessment was completed:

Type of hazard

Who may be harmed?

Date of next review:

What are you already doing to control the risk?

What further action, if any, can you take to control the risk?

Further action completed on (date)?

STEP 1 - Type of risk assessment

Example: Electrocution in milking parlour

Staff, farmer, contractors, vets, students

NIEC Electrical report obtained every 5 years, proper staff training

Provide appropriate PPE to staff Yes, on DD-MM-YYYY

You will need several different risk assessments to cover the various activities related to your business. Once you have selected the activity, you can then think about what risks you need to guard against. Examples of activities include:

• Using tractors, farm vehicles and quads

• Using farm machinery

• Handling livestock

• Vehicle traffic and manoeuvring

• Farmyard and buildings/working at heights

• Harvesting

• Workshop/repairs/working with timber

• Handling and using chemicals

STEP 2 - Dates

Make sure you date the risk assessment the day it is completed. As a rule, risk assessments should be reviewed every year. If nothing has changed when you come to review it, you can simply copy the assessment, state that nothing has changed and re-date it. Whenever you introduce a new activity or change an existing one, you should complete a new risk assessment, or amend the existing one, before the activity begins. Do not wait until you review your existing assessments.

STEP 3 - Type of hazard

In this section you need to identify any hazards that you or your employees may encounter when completing the activity that is being risk assessed and identified in Step 1, for example: tractors and farm vehicles, harvesting, handling livestock, using machinery etc.

Try to consider what hazards you or your employees might encounter during a working day when doing these activities. Common examples include slips and trips, falls from height, manual handling and crushing injuries.

STEP 4 - Who may be harmed

This is likely to consist of either:

• Employees – includes staff employed directly (PAYE) but also labour only and other contractors where you have control over their system of work and/or provide them with work equipment.

• Visitors – includes members of the public, delivery drivers, suppliers and contractors. It is important to think about children and vulnerable people when considering this.

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STEP 5 - What are you already doing to control this risk?

Measures used to lower the risk of injury are known as control measures, and a mixture of different control measures can be used to prevent injury.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will expect you to implement measures that are reasonably practicable – in other words, steps you can reasonably introduce when considering the level of risk and severity of injury, balanced against the cost and practicality of implementing the measure.

For example, if the risk of severe injury is high, you will be expected to put more time, money and energy into implementing control measures that lower or remove the risk.

Example control measures include (but are not limited to):

• Training e.g driver competence and awareness, how to use specific machinery (for example, chainsaws), not to operate machinery without guards in place, manual handling

• Inspections and maintenance of the workplace and equipment e.g in vehicle brakes, in machinery by ensuring guards are in place, ensuring water and slurry is fenced off, regular checking of manhole covers etc.

• Instructions on how to complete a task safely and safe systems of work

• Signage, for example, signs at the entrances of fields with public rights of way warning walkers of livestock

• Providing the correct personal protection equipment (PPE), for example provide safety googles when using power tools or cutting machinery

You should be specific about the measures being introduced, for example state exactly the type of training or PPE that is being provided and how it should be used.

STEP 6 - What further action, if any, can you take to control the risk?

This section gives you the opportunity to think about further steps that are reasonably practicable to introduce. If there are no further measures, then you can say so. Or, if there are reasons why measures cannot be introduced, you can detail them here. Examples can include a measure that would make a task harder to perform or be extremely costly.

STEP 7 - Further action completed on (date)

If you have identified that further actions/control measures could be introduced, then you would put the date on which those measures were implemented in this column. A risk assessment will not offer you or your employees any protection if the control measures you identify are not put in place.

EQUIPMENT INSPECTION

It’s likely that during a typical working day, you and your employees will use some form of work equipment. To comply with the Health and Safety regulations, equipment needs to be suitable for its designed purpose, free from defects and inspected regularly.

Depending on the equipment’s complexity, difficulty to use and the risk of injury, inspections can range from a quick visual check to a full mechanical, diagnostic, and functional inspection.

For specialist equipment, inspections may need to be completed by a qualified inspector or engineer. See manufacturers’ guidance and current legislation/regulations eg. LOLER (Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998) for heavy lifting equipment.

When considering how work equipment is used and inspected, we recommend you think about the following:

• All equipment needs to be suitable for its designed purpose. Are you or your employees ‘making do’ with inadequate equipment, or using incorrect equipment that is not right for the job?

• Safety-critical parts of work equipment may need a higher and more frequent level of attention than other aspects

• Ensure work equipment is maintained in an efficient working state and is in good repair

• Where the piece of equipment has a maintenance log, keep this up to date

• Where the safety of work equipment depends on the manner of installation, it must be inspected after installation and before being put into use

• If equipment deteriorates quickly, inspect more regularly to ensure faults are detected in good time

• Make sure that equipment is guarded where necessary and any guards are in good working order

• Take measures to prevent parts and substances falling or being ejected from work equipment

• Ensure that equipment is provided with appropriately identified controls, for example stopping and starting

• Where appropriate, ensure isolating controls for all power sources (including electric, hydraulic, pneumatic and gravitational energy) are working properly

Frequency of inspections

The frequency of inspections will be influenced by several factors, but as a starting point we recommend that you follow the manufacturer’s guidance. You can also think about:

• Are there moving parts that deteriorate quickly and need replacing regularly?

• Where is the equipment stored? Is it exposed to the elements which could also contribute to deterioration?

• How often is the equipment used? If used daily, it might require more frequent inspections

• Different pieces of equipment might have their own rules and regulations relating to maintenance and inspections. For example, lifting equipment is governed by the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) and has specific requirements for regular, thorough inspections. Please ensure you are familiar with any regulations that govern the equipment you use

• If you are made aware of a problem with a piece of equipment, then it should be inspected immediately

EQUIPMENT INSPECTION

Types of inspection

The type of inspection can vary. The HSE give the following examples:

• Quick checks before use (e.g. electric cable condition on hand-held power tools, functional testing of brakes, lights on mobile machinery). These types of inspections don’t usually need to be recorded.

• Weekly checks (e.g. presence of guarding, function of safety devices, tyre pressures, and the condition of windows, mirrors and CCTV on mobile plant). These types of inspections do not normally need to be recorded in writing.

• More extensive examinations, undertaken every few months or longer (e.g. general condition of a ladder, close examination of a safety harness, portable appliance testing). These types of inspections must be recorded in writing.

To help you record your equipment inspections, at the back of this guide are some templates that you can complete.

EQUIPMENT INSPECTION CHECKLIST

How to complete an equipment inspection:

Piece of equipment: Is this piece of equipment safe to use?

Yes / No / / / /

STEP 1

Detail the equipment name and type.

STEP 2

Date of inspection

Add the date the equipment was inspected.

STEP 3

Add the date you next intend to inspect this equipment.

Comments:

Date of next inspection Comments:

STEP 4

Following your inspection, simply answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.

STEP 5

Date of inspection

If the equipment is not safe to use, you can explain why and what steps you are taking to make it safe.

Signed:

of equipment: Is this piece of equipment safe to use?

/ No

Comments: Date of inspection Yes

It is essential that after any incident in which someone is injured or nearly injured (a ‘near miss’), the circumstances of the incident are recorded in an incident report form.

The incident report form is a document kept for your own purposes and records, and does not need to be sent to the HSE. Completing an incident report form can:

• Help determine the cause of an incident and assist in implementing measures that prevent similar incidents from occurring

• Spot trends in incidents so measures can be taken to help prevent them

• Help investigate and defend claims if the injured person makes a claim against you

In the event of a legal claim against you, the incident report form will be used as evidence and could be presented to the Court. Therefore, it must be completed accurately. You should also retain any CCTV footage and take photographs of the scene of the incident.

At the back of this guide is an incident report form template that you can complete and store, in the event of an injury or near miss.

Below is guidance on how to complete an incident report form and details on when a HSE RIDDOR Report is required.

How to complete an incident report form:

All incidents that result in an injury, however minor, must be recorded. Minor injuries can be a warning sign that may help prevent more severe injuries. In addition, what seems like a minor injury at the time can deteriorate and become more serious.

In the event of an insurance claim, the incident report might be required months or even years after the incident. It is important that there is a clear description of the incident and what caused it, and that this report is retained.

STEP 1 – Date, time and location

Recording the date, time and location of the incident should be your starting point. Even if it is not being completed on the same day that the incident occurred, the date and time of the incident can be recorded retrospectively.

STEP 2 - Information about the injured person

Complete the name and position of the person involved, including a description of the injuries and any treatment provided. It may also be useful for your records to detail any absence from work as a result of the incident.

STEP 3 - Incident circumstances

It is important that you state how you believe the incident occurred. The circumstances of the incident can be a point of dispute at a later date and having the circumstances recorded accurately can help prove what happened.

Please ensure you clearly describe what caused the incident. For example, was there a pool of water that resulted in someone slipping, or was a guard missing from a piece of machinery? Following the incident, you can use your risk assessment to consider if further control measures are needed to prevent a similar incident from occurring.

We recommend that you record any details of anyone who witnessed the incident, including a contact telephone number. Their evidence might be useful in the event of a legal claim in the future.

STEP 4 - Details of person completing the form

At the bottom of the form you need to record who completed the form - this should be done by an employee of your business. If it was an employee who was injured, then a colleague should fill out the form. If you have a designated Health and Safety or first aid representative, they would be best placed to complete the form.

RIDDOR Report

In some circumstances the HSE will expect you to complete a RIDDOR Report. This stands for Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 and places a legal requirement on reporting certain incidents.

Once complete, the RIDDOR Report must be returned to the HSE. There are several methods of completing the form, but the easiest way is online. Please visit the HSE website for guidance on this (www.hse.gov. uk). In addition to the online completion of a RIDDOR Report you should also complete your own incident report form using the previous page’s guidance.

The following types of injuries and incidents MUST be reported using a RIDDOR Report:

• All deaths to workers and non-workers, with the exception of suicides, must be reported if they arise from a work-related accident, including an act of physical violence to a worker

• Fractures, other than to fingers, thumbs and toes

• Amputations

• Any injury likely to lead to a reduction or permanent loss of sight

• Any crush injury to the head or torso causing damage to the brain or internal organs

• Serious burns (including scalding) which:

• covers more than 10% of the body

• causes significant damage to the eyes, respiratory system or other vital organs

• Any loss of consciousness caused by head injury or asphyxia

• Any injury arising from working in an enclosed space which:

• leads to hypothermia or heat-induced illness

• requires resuscitation or admittance to hospital for more than 24 hours

• An incident which results in the employee being off work for 7 or more consecutive days

• Incidents involving members of the public or others who are not at work must be reported if they result in an injury and the person is taken directly from the scene of the accident to hospital for treatment to that injury

• Various occupational diseases including carpal tunnel syndrome, occupational asthma, and hand-arm vibration syndrome. A full list of occupational diseases can be found at hse.gov.uk/riddor/occupationaldiseases.htm.

• There are 27 categories of dangerous occurrences or “near misses” that require reporting, even if no one has been injured. These include plant making contact with power lines and the accidental release of substances that could cause injury. Again, please visit the HSE website for the full list.

It is important that your employees are given all the resources they require in order to carry out their roles in the safest possible manner. Training needs to be relevant to employees’ work and any risks they face.

As an employer, you have a legal duty to ensure your staff are adequately trained to carry out their role safely, which includes training on any equipment they have to use as part of their role.

Completing risk assessments will help you identify high-risk equipment or tasks that require specialist training and/or qualifications.

Tasks that may require training include:

• Handling livestock

• Using farm machinery such as tractors, balers, spreaders and harvesters

• Carrying out activities involving manual handling, working at height and working in confined spaces

• Using equipment such as power tools, fixed machinery, or working with hazardous substances

If you do not train your employees to work safely and they are injured as a result, this failure can be used to claim against you for damages and/or used by the HSE to prosecute you.

Training records and documentation

It is important to keep an employee training record to provide evidence of any training you provide; this can then act as a summary of all the training given to a particular employee.

In the event of an injury you may be asked to provide evidence of the training provided. You may also be asked in Court to present evidence of training months or even years after it has taken place.

It is crucial that records of training are completed, stored and reviewed regularly.

When is training required?

Even if an employee is experienced in a specific task or using a piece of equipment, a Court will expect you to provide training, or at the very least, satisfy yourself that they can work safely.

The HSE recommend you consider training:

• New recruits and young employees should be a priority and need basic training to how to work safely, and they will need adequate supervision following training

• Temporary or casual workers will be unfamiliar with the workplace and will be more at risk

• Workers who do not speak English will require information in a way that they can easily understand. Check their understanding and monitor them to make sure training is put into practice

• People changing jobs or taking on extra responsibilities need to know about any new Health and Safety implications of the work

• Some people’s skills may decline over time, or bad habits may develop, so refresher training should be provided at least annually

• Employees using new technology, equipment or machinery may require new training

• Contractors, if you have control over their system of work or provide them with equipment

Types of training

For the most part, “on-the-job” training provided by an experienced member of staff can achieve the level of training required. However, you could also consider college or further educational courses, or qualifications and training provided by an external or qualified instructor.

The type of training required will depend on the role or task the employee is expected to complete and whether you have the experience to deliver the training yourself.

The following page has guidance on how to complete a training checklist for each employee, and template documents can be found at the back of this guide.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING CHECKLIST

How to complete an employee training checklist:

Employee name: Role/Position:

Employee declaration: By signing this checklist, I hereby confirm that I have received training in respect of the items listed below and I am comfortable in carrying out that task/using that piece of equipment.

Trainer declaration: By signing this checklist, I hereby confirm that I am satisfied the said employee has proved competent to carry out the following tasks and/or use the following pieces of work equipment unsupervised.

Training completed Date completedEmployee signature

Trainer signature

STEP 1

Add the name and role/position of the employee.

If you have multiple employees, you will need more than one checklist. You can copy the template provided.

STEP 2

Detail the training that was provided. For example, manual handling, chainsaws, milking parlour or livestock handling.

STEP 3

Add the date that the training was completed.

STEP 4

The form should then be signed by both the employee who completed the training and yourself. This should be done when you are both happy that the training has been delivered and understood.

For more detailed guidance on how to ensure your staff are adequately trained, please visit the hse.gov.uk website and search ‘Health and Safety Training’.

HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

Health and Safety Policy

UK law states that every business must have a policy for managing Health and Safety.

If you have 5 or more employees then your Health and Safety Policy must be written down. If you have fewer than 5 employees then by law you do not have to write anything down, although it is useful to do so.

This Health and Safety guide takes you through each of the four key areas and provides templates for each that you can work through and complete:

• Risk assessments

• Work equipment inspections

• Incident reporting

• Employee training

Once you have been through each of these areas, you will then be able to complete your Health and Safety Policy. This policy sets out your business’s general policy for protecting employees and visitors, and shows how the policy will be implemented.

At the back of this guide is a Health and Safety Policy template, and the below step-by-step guide helps you to complete a Health and Safety Policy for your business.

How

HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY

to complete your Health and Safety Policy:

This is the statement of general policy and arrangements for:

Overall responsibility for Health and Safety is held by:

Day-to-day responsibility for putting this policy into practice is delegated to:

Day-to-day responsibility for following this policy is held by:

Health and Safety Policy commitment

STEP 1

Business name. This needs to be the name of your farm or business.

This is the Health and Safety Policy for my business. It is intended to protect myself, my employees and visitors from accidents and injury while on site.

STEP 2

I undertake to:

Responsibility holder. The person with overall responsibility for establishing and maintaining good Health and Safety practices at the business – usually the business owner.

• Provide a safe, secure workplace for all employees and visitors.

• Use best practice to ensure safe working conditions on a daily basis.

STEP 3

• Provide protective equipment, training, supervision and information to all relevant parties.

• Notify all workers and visitors about hazards present on the farm.

• Cease all work and provide immediate treatment in the event of an accident/incident.

Day-to-day responsibilities. This will be the on-site individual responsible for enforcing the business’s Health and Safety Policy on a daily basis, and may be someone other than the business owner.

• Record any injuries and accidents and work to prevent reoccurrence through active measures.

STEP 4

• Review this Health and Safety Policy regularly (and at least annually) to ensure that proper and up-to-date procedures are being followed.

Following the policy. This needs to list any groups of people on site who will need to follow the Health and Safety Policy, and could include any of the following: employees, contractors, visitors.

Signed:

STEP 5 – Health and Safety Policy commitment

Date:

This is the Health and Safety commitment that the business owner agrees to undertake in order to provide a safe working environment for themselves, employees and visitors. The business owner needs to sign and date this section.

Additional workplace safety information:

I undertake that:

Additional workplace safety information:

I undertake that:

• Employees are regularly briefed on Health and Safety matters as they arise; any issues are to be raised with:

• The legally-required Health and Safety England poster is displayed in the:

• is our dedicated first aid provider. If this individual is not present or if a serious incident occurs, call 999 immediately.

• The first aid box and accident book are located in:

• All accidents must be recorded and reported to , who will report under RIDDOR when required (e.g. for major injuries or those that require an absence for more than 7 days).

• The nearest hospital is:

Revision date(s):

This policy is reviewed, monitored and revised by:

STEP 6 – Additional workplace safety information

Review date(s):

Health and Safety issues. This should be a responsible individual – it may be yourself, or a delegated employee who works at the business.

Supporting our Members HEALTH AND SAFETY

STEP 7

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Health and Safety poster. The HSE Health & Safety poster should be displayed where all staff can see it. These posters are available from https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/lawposter.htm.

Dedicated first aid provider. This should be the person with primary responsibility for first aid on the farm.

First aid box and accident book. The first aid box and accident book should be located somewhere easily accessible in the event of an emergency.

Accident recording and reporting. This should be a responsible individual, and may be the same person as the delegated Health and Safety Policy practitioner identified at the top of the policy.

Nearest hospital. This should have the full address of the nearest major hospital, including the postcode.

STEP 8

Revision & review dates. The Health and Safety Policy should be reviewed annually by a responsible individual – if any revisions are made, record the date of these revisions in the ‘Revision date(s)’ section. Even if no changes are made, still add the date of the policy’s review in the ‘Review date(s)’ section.

Type of risk assessment (e.g. livestock handling, using farm machinery, children on farms, working at heights):

Business name (e.g your farm’s name):

Risk assessment completed by:

Date risk assessment was completed: Date of next review:

Type of hazard

Example: Electrocution in milking parlour

Who may be harmed?

Staff, farmer, contractors, vets, students

What are you already doing to control the risk?

NIEC Electrical report obtained every 5 years, proper staff training

What further action, if any, can you take to control the risk?

Further action completed on (date)?

Provide appropriate PPE to staff Yes, on DD-MM-YYYY

Supporting our Members

EQUIPMENT INSPECTION CHECKLIST

Piece of equipment: Is this piece of equipment safe to use?

Comments:

Date of inspection

Yes / No / / / / Signed:

Piece of equipment: Is this piece of equipment safe to use?

Comments:

Date of inspection

Date of next inspection

Yes / No / / / / Signed:

Piece of equipment: Is this piece of equipment safe to use?

Comments:

Date of inspection

Date of next inspection

Yes / No / / / / Signed:

Piece of equipment: Is this piece of equipment safe to use?

Comments:

Date of inspection

Date of next inspection

Yes / No / / / / Signed:

Piece of equipment: Is this piece of equipment safe to use?

Comments:

Date of inspection

Date of next inspection

Supporting our Members HEALTH AND SAFETY

Yes / No / / / / Signed:

Date of incident:

Location of incident:

Information about the injured person

Name:

Address:

Telephone number:

Description of injury:

Treatment provided:

Time of incident: Injured person: Employee / Member of Public / Family Member

Occupation:

Date of birth:

Length of time absent from work: Return to work date:

Incident circumstances

Describe how the incident occurred:

What was the cause of the incident?

Names and contact details of any witnesses:

Name:

Date form completed:

Supporting our Members

Role/Position:

Details of person completing this form Contact telephone number:

EMPLOYEE TRAINING CHECKLIST

Employee name: Role/Position:

Employee declaration: By signing this checklist, I hereby confirm that I have received training in respect of the items listed below and I am comfortable in carrying out that task/using that piece of equipment.

Trainer declaration: By signing this checklist, I hereby confirm that I am satisfied the said employee has proved competent to carry out the following tasks and/or use the following pieces of work equipment unsupervised.

Training completed

Date completed

Employee signature

Trainer signature

This is the statement of general policy and arrangements for:

Overall responsibility for Health and Safety is held by:

Day-to-day responsibility for putting this policy into practice is delegated to:

Day-to-day responsibility for following this policy is held by:

Health and Safety Policy commitment

This is the Health and Safety Policy for my business. It is intended to protect myself, my employees and visitors from accidents and injury while on site.

I undertake to:

• Provide a safe, secure workplace for all employees and visitors

• Use best practice to ensure safe working conditions on a daily basis

• Provide protective equipment, training, supervision and information to all relevant parties

• Notify all workers and visitors about hazards present on the farm

• Cease all work and provide immediate treatment in the event of an accident/incident

• Record any injuries and accidents and work to prevent reoccurrence through active measures

• Review this Health and Safety Policy regularly (and at least annually) to ensure that proper and up-to-date procedures are being followed

Signed:

Additional workplace safety information:

I undertake that:

Date:

• Employees are regularly briefed on Health and Safety matters as they arise; any issues are to be raised with:

• The legally-required Health and Safety England poster is displayed in the:

• is our dedicated first aid provider. If this individual is not present or if a serious incident occurs, call 999 immediately

• The first aid box and accident book are located in:

• All accidents must be recorded and reported to , who will report under RIDDOR when required (e.g. for major injuries or those that require an absence for more than 7 days)

• The nearest hospital is:

Revision date(s):

This policy is reviewed, monitored and revised by:

Review date(s):