AGRICULTURE (THRESHERS AND BALERS) REGULATIONS, 1960 (Hansard, 11 July 1960)

THE JOINT PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY, MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD (EARL WALDEGRAVE)
My Lords, when I spoke this time last year on the Agriculture Stationary Machinery Regulations I said that threshers, hullers, balers and trussers needed special treatment and would be dealt with separately. The Regulations now before your Lordships provide for the guarding and safe operation of threshers and balers which are designed or permanently converted for stationary use only. They follow the general principles adopted in the Stationary Machinery Regulations. I should perhaps mention that when these Draft Regulations were considered by the Special Orders Committee a number of points were discussed (one particular drafting point was, I believe, discussed at some length), but I understand that they were disposed of to the general satisfaction of that Committee.
4 My Lords, to go very briefly through these Regulations, they provide that guards of sufficient strength must be provided for components such as shafting, pulleys, belts and flywheels,et cetera, unless, in the case of threshers and balers permanently fixed in one position, these components are safely situated out of the way of workers. Means must be provided of quickly stopping threshers and balers, and there must be adequate light. Machines, including the belts and guards, must be properly maintained.
In addition to these measures—which, of course, already apply to stationary machinery generally—there are provisions peculiar to threshers and balers. These are as follows. Drum feeding mouths must be specially guarded to prevent serious accidents which have been caused in the past by workers' stepping or falling into the drum feeding mouth and injuring themselves on the high-speed drum; no worker may stand on a platform which slopes down directly into the drum feeding mouth when the drum is rotating; and no worker under the age of 18 may feed produce into the drum feeding mouth. If there is a risk of a fall of more than five feet, the deck of a thresher must have a guard rail. This height was agreed after discussions with all interested organisations, and is in fact already incorporated in the Agriculture (Safeguarding of Workplaces) Regulations, 1959.
The next point is that many serious hand injuries have been caused through the use of hooks which are too sharp; and the use of sharply pointed hooks and spikes for the attachment of sacks to threshers is therefore prohibited. However, in administering this provision we shall regard hooks and spikes as being satisfactory if they are no sharper than a matchhead. That will avoid injuries, we feel, while preserving the usefulness of the hooks. So much for the threshers. As for balers and trussers, they must be fitted with guards to protect workers from injuring themselves on the ram or discharge arms. And, to prevent a particularly dangerous practice, no worker may be on top of a baler when it is being operated.
Employers are responsible for seeing that these provisions are observed, and they will be allowed twelve months to fit the necessary guards to their machines. Workers must make full use of the guards 5 and report any damage. For the purpose of these Regulations an agricultural contractor will be deemed to be the employer, and therefore, under Regulation 6, responsible for seeing that they are observed, where the threshing or baling is carried out in his machine. In all other cases the occupier of the farm on which the threshing or baling is taking place will be responsible.
The Regulations will apply to Great Britain. When they come into force on August 1, 1961, they will supersede, in England and Wales, the Threshing Machines Act, 1878. The repeal of this Act, which does not extend to Scotland, will take effect on the same day by virtue of an Order to be made by my right honourable friend under the Agriculture (Safety, Health and Welfare Provisions) Act, 1956.
We have reached a broad measure of agreement on the draft Regulations with interested organisations and we propose, as we have done before, to use all available means to inform people concerned of their responsibilities. The Regulations are a necessary addition to the existing safety measures, and they will complete the Regulations which cover stationary machinery. Consultations are in progress on proposals for Regulations to cover the other broad group of machines—namely those which operate while travelling over the ground.
My Lords, I beg to move that the Agriculture (Threshers and Balers) Regulations, 1960, be approved.

§ LORD WISE
My Lords, on this side of the House we welcome these Regulations. They are comprehensive and well set out in the document which is before us. I understand from the noble Earl that full consultation has taken place with the organisations which may be concerned with carrying out the Regulations. I think that it is all to the good that consultation should take place before Regulations are brought to us for our approval.
These Regulations confer benefits on both employers and employees. They direct the employer on the provisions he has to make to protect his workers from accident, and they do so in a 6 friendly and inoffensive way, which I think will meet with the approval of the industry. They impress on the employer that he has a liability under the 1956 Act to safeguard his employees and must not neglect to carry out his obligations, while they give the employee an assurance that the Government are concerned to introduce provisions for his safety and that they must Abe carried out. The provisions, however, must also be carried out by the employee, who must play his part and take proper precautions for his own safety.
In his opening speech, the noble Earl mentioned guards on machines. It is important that guards on all kinds of agricultural machines should be properly used. I have seen guards lying about where work is being carried on and not attached to the machines. The Regulations are good in themselves and they also contain instructions on the proper use and maintenance of machinery. Maintenance is an important point, particularly at the present time. The older generation of farm workers have not had experience of mechanically operated machines and are not mechanically minded, but the new generation of agriculture workers are a generation of technicians and will become skilled mechanics. As new machines are introduced, their working movement will be more appreciated and understood by the new generation. Maintenance is a problem, by reason of the lack of knowledge and facilities for the upkeep of machines, but this will become easier in the years ahead, and the requirements covered by these Regulations will undoubtedly be met in the new machinery which manufacturers will introduce. I hope that by these means the repair bills, which are now very heavy in agriculture, will grow less.
I want to make two points in regard to the Regulations. The first deals with hooks. The noble Earl said that although no pointed hook or spike shall be used, according to the Regulations, it might be possible to allow a hook or spike which was not sharper than a matchhead. I am rather perturbed about this, because I understand that most accidents with threshing machinery arise not from the rollers of the drum but from the hooks to which the sacks are attached. I believe that it is now possible for clips to be used which would 7 meet the position, and I should much prefer the introduction of the use of clips than a continuation of the use of spikes.
The Regulations come into operation on August 1, 1961, but I hope that the agricultural industry will endeavour to put them into effect in regard to their own machinery before that date. It would be a tragedy if accidents were to happen in the meantime which could be avoided if the industry had already made endeavours to bring their machinery into line with what is required under the Regulations. I think we should endeavour not only to avoid accidents on the roads, in the mines and in factories, but also in agriculture. That is what these Regulations seek to do, and I commend them to your Lordships.

EARL WALDEGRAVE
My Lords, in replying to the two specific points raised by the noble Lord, first, on the question of hooks and clips, this matter has been gone into and has been carefully considered, and it was thought that, provided the hook is not filed to a sharp point, we shall not get this damage. These needle-sharp pointed hooks are a menace, and on my own machines I have often taken a file and filed them down. If they are blunt it is possible to force a sack over them, and they need not be razor-sharp. From August, 1961, it will be illegal to have them razor-sharp. But I do not think we can go so far as to take the sacks off the hooks altogether, because it is much simpler to fix the sack on with a hook than with a clip. With regard to the fact that the Regulations will not come into force until August, 1961, the noble Lord will appreciate that we are now in the middle of the harvesting period, and it would therefore be difficult to bring them into operation at this time. But I have no doubt that the publicity which the debates in the other place and in your Lordships' House will receive in the farming Press will lead farmers to take some of these precautions in good time.

§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH
My Lords, there is one small point that I should like to put as a question. The Regulations refer to the use of threshers which are not stationary originally but are converted to be stationary. I am not quite clear what type of thresher that is. We do, of 8 course, find that at times the usual standard combine can be put stationary and threshing can be done by it. I do not know of any special dangers, unless somebody is foolish enough to stand on the platform that goes up from the ground towards the underpart of the drum, which is covered with spikes. May we take it that a combine used as a stationary thresher is not dealt with in these Regulations?

EARL WALDEGRAVE
My Lords, I speak again with your Lordships' permission. That is so, of course. Consultations are now going on about the mobile combine and the mobile baler. These Regulations, as I pointed out, concern only threshers and balers which are designed or permanently converted for stationary use. Such machines are not mobile machines that are just being used stationary at the time.

§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGH
My Lords, the only point that occurred to me was that there might be danger on the feed if they are putting in any sheaves. Some people re-thresh and pass through the combine again and they stand on top of the machine and pour it into the drum.

EARL WALDEGRAVE
My Lords, the fact is that these Regulations will not cover anything but a permanently stationary machine.