Pomeroy farmer fined following serious injury to employee

At Dungannon Crown Court (30th September), Pomeroy farmer Mr Robert Ian Hamilton was fined £5,000 plus costs of £963 after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two breaches of health and safety legislation.

The case was brought by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) and relates to an incident on 13 January 2014 where an employee of Mr Hamilton suffered severe injuries after falling 3.2 metres (10.5 ft) from the top of a mobile feed mixer.

The incident occurred as a result of an unsafe system of work.  The farm worker was in the process of loading molasses into the feed mixer through an opening at the top. To do this he had to climb up the side and unto the top of the feed mixer in order to open and close valves which regulated the flow of molasses. On this occasion the employee fell from the top of the mixer, suffering multiple head and body injuries.

The HSENI investigation found that there were no measures in place to prevent workers from falling from the mixer while adding the molasses.  The use of a pump or other automated system capable of adding molasses would have removed the need for employees to access the top of the mixer. 

After the hearing, Anne Cassidy, an inspector with HSENI’s major investigation team said: “The risks associated with working at height are well known and it is the duty of farmers, as with all employers, to control the risk of injury to their workers.  Measures must always be put in place to prevent injury to workers from falls from height.”

Information about working at height and other farm safety information is available on the Farm Safe website: http://www.hseni.gov.uk/farmsafe