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Agriculture & Livestock

Safety / Tips and Tricks / Agriculture and livestock

Activity 13

Agriculture and livestock

Machinery, animals, stored crops and substances — the technique notes for a workplace where people also live.

Fig. 13 — Farmyard with baler, handling race and covered slurry store

16 technique notes
Basic techniquesSafe StopRead →Choosing equipmentPTO Shafts and EntanglementRead →Product infoOverturn, ROPS and Seat BeltsRead →Basic techniquesCattle Handling and Flight ZoneRead →Expert techniquesBulls and Cows With CalvesRead →Expert techniquesSlurry Gases and Confined SpacesRead →Expert techniquesFlowing Grain EntrapmentRead →Basic techniquesMixing and Loading PesticidesRead →Product infoSpray Drift and Re-EntryRead →Product infoRespiratory Protection on the FarmRead →Choosing equipmentQuad Bikes and ATVsRead →Choosing equipmentBaling and UnblockingRead →Basic techniquesChildren and VisitorsRead →Basic techniquesLone Working on a FarmRead →Basic techniquesFarm Vehicles and YardsRead →RescueEmergency Response When RemoteRead →

Every note on this page concerns the farm as a workplace: power take-off shafts and machinery, handling livestock, slurry and grain stores, pesticides, and the fact that children and visitors are present in the same space. Chainsaw work, felling and aerial tree work belong to Tree Care and Grounds, and the two link to each other where they meet. The four agricultural standards behind this work — EN ISO 4254, ISO 3471, EN 15695 and EN ISO 27065 — were added to the standards library alongside these notes.

Frequently asked questions

What is safe stop?

Handbrake on, controls in neutral with the drive out, engine off, key removed. Four actions in a fixed order, each closing a different route by which the machine can still move or be started. It is the routine behind most of the machinery notes on this page.

Why is a PTO shaft treated so seriously?

It sits at waist height, runs between tractor and implement, and carries enough power to drive a machine. Anything touching it is wound in within a fraction of a second, and there is no minor version of the injury.

Does a roll bar protect an operator who is not wearing the belt?

Barely. The structure preserves a survival space and the belt is the only thing that keeps the operator inside it. An unbelted operator is thrown around the cab and very often out of it.

Why do slurry incidents kill more than one person?

Because someone collapses and others go in to help, and the same atmosphere overcomes them within seconds. From outside, the only useful actions are to raise the alarm, ventilate and keep everyone out.

Which standards cover farm machinery and equipment?

Agricultural machinery guarding falls under EN ISO 4254, roll-over protective structures under ISO 3471, tractor cab protection against hazardous substances under EN 15695, and pesticide operator clothing under EN ISO 27065. Each has its own page in the standards library.

Where does this activity stop and Tree Care & Grounds begin?

This activity covers the farm as a workplace: machinery, livestock, stored crops and substances, and the fact that people live there. Chainsaw work, felling and aerial tree work belong to Tree Care and Grounds, and the two link to each other where they meet.