Card 03.05 Hayloft
THE RISKS:
-
Risk of running somebody down on the spot and at great distance (caused by fall and subsequent roll of bales from the pile) provoked by:
- Subsidence of the support ground, which settles down through years (also due to atmospheric agents)
- Subsidence of pallets(if used to lift bales from the ground) because they had not been checked before use worn out or faulty)
- Bales deformation caused by their internal fermentation (wrong dehydration; little ventilation provoked by polythene sheets used for protection)
- Balance loss during bale handling (collection and deposition) with agricultural vehicles (uneven ground or obstacles)
- Lack off all-proof barrier - Risk of unintentional fire (due to hot material introduction, vehicle presence and non-suitable electrical system)
- Fall from heights (caused by the use of ill-placed ladder and the presence of non-fenced off mezzanine)
It is necessary to remind that:
The sole round bale weight (roughly 400 kg) is sufficient for causing harm to people and damage to things;
Fire in hay is difficult to put out,even for Fire Brigades.Usually they only manage to avoid fire spreading to other facilities.
PRACTICAL AND OPERATING INDICATIONS:
Floors and ground shall be kept uneven, solid and without holes or subsidence.
Round bales bound with netting shall be preferred for they are less deformable than twined ones.
Measures for containing piled bales shall be adopted to prevent their fall (using strong barriers, taut ropes and fences).
Straw beds and sheets shall be used as separators (were it necessary, avoid the use of pallets for they could subside/deform).
Pile base shall be steadied with pegs and holding wedges.
Pile's height shall not overcome 5m, that is 4 bales.
Fall front shall be oriented towards uninhabited open spaces or protected with strong barriers or pilings.
Pile verticality shall be controlled regularly and unstable bales shall be removed.
It is recommended to operate on depot's front.
Vehicles provided with suitable cherry-picker shall be used to avoid the worker to operate in direct contact with bales when realising the pile cover.
In hays, worker shall enter with moving machines or tractors provided with en closable driver's cab and it is preferable to use moving machines with telescopic boom.
Access shall be banned to general public. In the moving area there shall be the sole presence of the operator.
FURTHER INDICATIONS AND ADVICE
- Smoking is forbidden where flammable materials are located (e.g. straw and hay); near these areas it is necessary to collocate pail of sands and 1 powder fire extinguisher at least (if possible, water)
- Worker shall report immediately to the employer any dangerous situation.
- During operations it is forbidden to interfere passing by with other mechanical vehicles.
- Worker shall follow the instructions provided by the employer on how to behave during emergencies. If these have not been provided, the worker shall get the information by the employer.
- Parapets shall be placed on elevated and accessible front, they shall be provided with two rails parapet (height of the upper one > 1m) with a ground band preventing both the operator to put his/her feet out of the surface and object's fall.
- Stairs suitability shall be controlled as well as ladders positioning/fastening.
- It is necessary to check if Fire Prevention Certificate is required (closed barn, not isolated, with more than 500 quintal capacity).
