Warm weather means hay and silage season for many farms. Moving parts, dusts, long days, and roadway hazards are a few of the ways haying and silage harvest can become dangerous.

Prevent a serious illness, injury, or delay that could result from skipping on safety by checking in with the harvest team this month.

SAFETY CHECKLIST

• Are equipment and machinery maintained and functioning properly? For example: tractor, baler, chopper, haybine, hay rake, semi or chopper box, unloaders.
• Are guards, shields, and safety stickers in place and in good condition?
• Is maintenance done only when equipment is powered down? Consider a lock-out-tag-out system.
• Are equipment operators aware of any steep inclines, ravines, or obstacles in the field that are hazardous?
• Are children kept away from this work site and off equipment?
• Are workers wearing properly fitting clothing? Slim-fit clothes and no-slip work shoes are necessary.
• Does roadway equipment have proper lighting and slow-moving signage?
• Are you keeping three points of contact when climbing structures like silos?
• Are workers using established hand signals and wearing a safety vest on the work site?
• Are harvest team members trained with safety instructions, emergency procedures?
• Is there an ABC Fire Extinguisher charged and ready to use in all equipment?
• Are equipment operators aware of the limitations of their equipment?

You and/or your employee(s) can download and print a pdf checklist to complete safety checks on your farm.  Keep the completed forms for follow-up, future reference and inspections.

DOWNLOAD PDF CHECKLIST