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Safe Systems

Procedures consisting of these sorts of steps are often called "Safe Systems of Work".

These "safe systems" are sometimes formalised so that only certain people can undertake them. In some practical cases, this may mean having a system of locks which only named people have access to. Sometimes, people must demonstrate their competency to do the job. In the arrangement for 'risk assessment', the law says that an employer can appoint a competent person to carry out a risk assessment. In some instances, there are legal restrictions such that only people who have a nationally recognised certificate of competence can carry out the procedures. Click for where training and certification required on farms and small holdings.


Procedures Quiz
A farming company was prosecuted following an accident to an employee who fell from an unsecured potato box, which was being used as a work platform on the forks of a raised FLT. The box toppled from the forks landing on the employee fracturing his legs and pelvis. What was the farming company prosecuted for?

Failing to have safety policy
Insufficient operator training
Poor supervision
Unsafe System of work

A 54 year-old employee died when the all terrain vehicle (aka ATV or quad bike) he was driving overturned on steep hill near pheasant feeding area. He was filling in for the full time gamekeeper who was going into hospital. The job involved driving an ATV that he had not driven before. The ATV was fitted with a box mounted on the rear containing grain feed. When the full time gamekeeper returned home he noticed the ATV was not in garage. Deceased discovered approximately 200m away from the ATV. What caused his death?

ATV turned over
No system in place
Lack of safety policy
Poor ATV maintenace

The accident happened on the worker’s second day at work on the machine. At the end of the day he reached across a processing section of the machine that should have been guarded to retrieve the last remaining potatoes from the machine as it was running clear. His arm was drawn up to the elbow in an in-running nip breaking his fingers and forearm bones, removing muscle from the top of his forearm. The worker was airlifted to hospital. How would this accident have been prevented?

Warning Notices posted
Simple system for checking
Protective Clothing
Hire more competent person

A 14 year-old child on a work placement scheme with a company operating a commercial shoot was killed when the ATV he was riding overturned. He had ridden the ATV into woods on his own to feed pheasants and was later found fatally injured next to the overturned ATV on sloping ground. He was not wearing a helmet although this was not the cause of his death.

No proper system
Failure to assess risks
Illegal underage use
Poor maintenance of ATV

An employee died when he was crushed against a mobile cleaning machine by a forklift truck. He had finished processing wheat seeds when his colleague got onto the forklift truck to move the last bag. When it started, it moved forward trapping him against the machine.

Employer not "reasonable practicable"
No written procedure
No system of work
No Warning Signs

IDevice Icon Portfolio Activity
Take a screngrab (Prt Sc) of your answers and response to these questions and paste (Ctrl + V) in portfolio at U1 LO4. And have a look below for details of these cases to find out more about how to reduce accidents.

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LANTRA Awards: Controlling Risks in Agriculture Level 3