The safety of your farm machinery must always be a high priority

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Tractors are not the only cause of injury on the farm. Forage harvesters, corn pickers, combines, silo-unloaders, liquid manure storages and grain bins are among the major sources of concern and all deserve your attention

by RALPH WINFIELD

Some of us remember very vividly the need for farm safety even before we had sophisticated machinery and equipment. Did any of you ever go on a high-speed ride behind a team of horses? I did – twice – in my early life and fortunately I survived both rides!

Early tractors did not have safe, comfortable operator stations and many of them did tip backwards, killing or seriously injuring the operator. Now all tractors must be equipped with rollover protection structures (ROPS) to safeguard the operator in the event of a backward or side rollover – if one has the mandatory seat belt buckled.

Backward rollovers were caused by one of two practices. The primary one was hitching machinery or pulling devices too high on the tractor. The designed drawbar attachment point (actual or theoretical) causes the front end of the tractor to be pulled down.

The other cause in bygone years was to chain a wooden post to the front of the rear tires to get the tractor up out of ruts. The concept could have been used safely if the post had been attached to the rear side of the back drive wheels. However, the need for this action usually occurred when the tractor was stuck and had an implement (plow) attached to the drawbar.

I cannot leave this subject of stuck tractors without talking about the danger of pulling out a stuck or stationary item using a chain. As you all know, chains have very limited stretchability. I am sure that many of you have broken a chain when trying to remove a tree or a stump. But did you note the recoil of that broken chain? It can be a real life threat.

My most memorable observation was watching a bus driver attempting to free a fellow bus driver's bus from a moose pasture near Banff in Alberta. When the chain broke it smashed the windshield of the bus being pulled! (Safety note: always use a heavy pull strap/rope that will stretch or use two lengths of chain or cable with a flex item in between. The most common flex item is an old truck tire.)

But tractors are not the only cause of injuries. Forage harvesters, corn pickers, combines, silo-unloaders, liquid manure storages and grain bins are among the major sources of concern. Many limbs or lives have been lost to the stalk-grabbing parts of machinery used for corn harvesting. Unfortunately, they cannot be guarded while still performing their function.

As a combine operator, I was often tempted to get out of the cab to clear the header – especially in downed corn – without shutting the header off. Fortunately, common sense always prevailed when I realized that having two hands and arms is so critical.

With many present-day combines, the header shuts off when the operator moves off the seat, the same way a lawn mower deck stops. However, I have also been told that moving the toolbox onto the seat prevents this from happening. Can equipment manufacturers protect all the people all the time?

During my tenure with Ontario Hydro from 1969 to 1974, there was a tremendous increase in the number of tower silos built in Ontario. Each one had a silo unloader. Silo unloaders were generally quite reliable, but uniform freezing and thawing of silage was not. When the silage on the south side of the silo was thawed first by the sun, the unloader tended to tilt and wedge in the silo. Without a standardized electrical lockout procedure in place, one person would go up into the silo without telling other family or staff. The end result was not always positive.

We talked to farm owners and electrical contractors, but we were not 100 per cent successful. Running a remote start/stop line up into the silo was effective, but it came at a relatively high cost. This issue has been resolved by the major switch to bunker silos.

As livestock enterprises were consolidated, there was a significant trend to liquid manure storages. Many were in the barn under the slats, while others were located just outside of the barns but connected. Regardless of location, if any agitation occurred, manure gases could be a lethal issue.

Those of us providing ventilation advice did zero in on this problem and strongly urged owners to make sure that the barn and storage units were properly ventilated. Clearance between the slats and the top of the liquid manure was absolutely critical to maintain adequate exhaust airflow.

Unfortunately, liquid manure storages often got too full when field conditions were not suitable for spreading. The end results were not always good for the animals and, in some cases, the barn owners/operators.

Last but by no means least, there is the danger of entering a grain bin at the top when the grain flow has stopped coming from the centre pit to the under-floor auger. Grain can and will bridge, leaving a large void space. If a person enters that bin from the top without proper safety equipment and another person to assist, the results can be catastrophic.

When bridged grain starts to flow, no person can climb out of the cascading grain. If unrestrained, they can and will be buried in a very short time and will suffocate.

There are many safety concerns with operating modern farm machinery and farmstead systems. Safety standards and guidelines are well known for most every type of occurrence, but we as farm operators often work alone and in a hurry to meet our or someone else's deadlines.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture ran a poll which was reported in March and which said that 84 per cent of participants indicated that they have a safety discussion during farm meetings, which meant that 16 per cent do not. My further concern is that the 100 per cent of respondents does not represent all of the farm operations in Ontario.

Every farm operation unit should hold regular staff meetings and farm safety should be on every agenda. The life you save may be your own or that of a family member or a valued employee. And that is something to think about! BF

Agricultural engineer Ralph Winfield farms at Belmont in Elgin County.