NFU issues pre-lambing safety advice

The NFU has issued pre-lambing advice, warning that longer hours, late nights, early starts and fewer breaks, can increase the risk of exhaustion and accidents.

Keeping mentally and physically healthy and staying safe on farm was, therefore, a key focus for Yorkshire Dales farmers at a pre-lambing health and safety event organised by the union.

Held at Skipton Auction Mart on Thursday (19 February), the event, which is part of the NFU’s #Take5StayAlive campaign, covered lone working, livestock handling, licence legislation, fire safety, essential first aid, and farm security.

See also: Long hours and stress fuel farm safety crisis, survey shows

NFU farm safety and transport adviser Stuart Head said: “Farm safety is essential to the resilience and sustainability of the agricultural workforce.

“Events such as this are vital for bringing the farming community together to share best practice and improve the culture of safety on farm.”

Lambing safety

To stay safe during lambing, the NFU advises farmers to:

• Take care with manual handling, such as upturning sheep or carrying bags of feed
• Use caution when administering injections and other medications, as they can be harmful if they enter the human body
• Maintain strict hygiene, especially thorough handwashing before eating, to reduce the risk from zoonotic parasites present in sheep
• Reduce slips, trips and falls by keeping barn walkways clear and handling sheep in small, enclosed areas.

Yorkshire West Riding county adviser Jennifer Costello, who helped organise the health and safety event, said farmers are often so busy caring for livestock and running their businesses that they neglect their own wellbeing.

“We need to change that,” she said, adding that events such as this are vital to help prevent accidents before they happen and, most importantly, to ensure farmers look after their mental health.

Public events

Farm visitors and farmers alike are also encouraged to follow good hygiene practices to avoid spreading diseases and parasites such as cryptosporidium.

Those farms running public-facing lambing events this season, the NFU advises, should follow strict hygiene procedures, avoid lamb-cuddling sessions, set up handwashing stations on main visitor routes, and keep visitors away from ewes and lambs for at least 48 hours after birth.