Farmer paralysed due to health and safety incident

A farmer in Lancashire has decided to share his story with others so they may avoid the issues he faced.  The hay making season is about to begin.  This is why his story is most relevant now.  A farmer was paralysed when a stack of silage bales fell on him.  The incident happened in 2007 when the farmer was 21.  He was helping stack silage bales on a neighbour’s farm when the telehandler cracked.  This device was used to put a bale on the top of the stack.  The bales weigh one tonne each.  Since the bale fell from six metres, it broke the young man’s back.  He also suffered from a fractured jaw.  The main artery was severed in his leg.  Even doctors did not expect him to live.

These injuries and his paralysation occurred because of improper health and safety.  Bales that are stacked extremely high, meaning six metres or more, can topple so reasonable precautions must be taken.  Training was also an issue because neither he nor the person helping him had proper experience and training to be working with the bales and the tools.  It was certainly a clear example of health and safety breaches.  It also left the young man paralysed from the waist down in an incident that could have been avoided.  The farm had to pay £3,000 to adapt the farmer’s loadall so that he can continue working without the use of his legs.