24.09.2009

UK warns farmers on Telehandler use

The UK HSE has warned farmers not to use telehandlers to drive fencing posts into the ground.

The warning follows two fatal accidents on North Yorkshire farms in less than three weeks. One involved a 66 year-old woman and the other a 22-year-old man.

In both accidents the person holding the post was struck by the telehandler bucket as it was being pressed down onto the post. It either slipped off the post top or the bucket became detached from the boom as it was forcing the post into the ground,

Investigations are still taking place to determine the exact circumstances of each accident, but HSE officials have stressed that telehandlers are not designed for driving posts into the ground.

Gill Spurrier, HSE head of operations for Yorkshire and the Humber said: "It is impossible to ensure that the post stays straight when a telehandler is used in this way and further fatalities are possible if people continue to enter the danger zone beneath the bucket to provide manual assistance.”

“If the bucket attachment is not properly engaged or becomes disengaged, the bucket can be dislodged by downward pressure on the post and may come loose completely – as happened at both incidents.”

"Both tragedies were easily avoidable, and we strongly encourage others not to work in this way."