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Agriland
06-05-2025
- Automotive
- Agriland
Farmers urged to prioritise safety as first-cut silage begins
Farmers are being urged to prioritise safety as first-cut silage gets underway across Ireland and the UK. The warning comes from NFU Mutual as last year's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics on fatal farm accidents in the UK show the risks of working with tractors and other farm vehicles. Of the 27 people tragically killed in farm accidents in the UK last year, nine of the deaths related to transport, including operating agricultural vehicles or machinery, runover incidents, rollover incidents, and crush incidents. A further two fatal accidents involved machinery and power take-off ( PTO) shafts. NFU Mutual's head of engineering, Bob Henderson said: 'Silage-making accidents, blockages, and breakdowns tend to happen when people are tired, machinery is pushed too hard, or work continues in unfavourable conditions. 'It's vital to make sure that machinery is kept well-maintained and that staff have the skills and the training to do their job safely to avoid accidents and breakdowns.' Evita van Gestel, of NFU Mutual Risk Management Services added: 'After last year's record wet winter and spring, conditions are likely to be easier for this year's first cut but regular maintenance checks on brakes, tyres, trailer couplings, and hydraulic pipes and brakes are just as important when the going seems easy. 'To reduce the risk of accidents it is important to make sure all drivers are trained to operate the machinery they will be using and are warned about any hazards in the fields including steep slopes, wet patches and slippery lanes.' NFU Mutual silage safety checklist Before silage harvesting: Make sure you have identified and assessed the hazards on the farm, in the field and the tasks that will be conducted during silage harvesting, and know how to manage the risks; Walk silage fields before cutting to identify wet spots and any potentially dangerous slippery slopes; Put in place a system for keeping in contact with lone workers; Make sure new staff are properly inducted and trained for the work you give them – in particular the dangers of working with and around farm machinery; Teach staff about the principles of 'Safe Stop' – make sure the handbrake is fully applied; controls and equipment are left safe; stop the engine; and remove the key, before leaving the vehicle or accessing the machine; Put in place measures to ensure children are kept away from working areas; Make sure staff know the safe working loads of trailers and do not allow trailers to be overfilled; Ensure vehicles and trailers are road legal with fully maintained and working brakes, lights, indicators, and flashing beacons; Regularly check the age, condition, and pressures of tyres; Consider using a third party to inspect trailers, with accreditation such as the 'Tilly Your Trailer' scheme; Consider letting local people know when you will be taking silage trailers on local lanes via neighbourhood social media sites, to help people reroute journeys. This will cut delays and incident risks. Working in the fields: Make sure tractors have sufficient power and braking capacity to control trailers on slippery hill fields; Regularly check moving parts of mowers, tedders, forage harvesters, and balers, including guards and PTO shafts for wear or damage; Switch off engines and ensure parts have stopped before clearing blockages or carrying out maintenance – remove keys as well to prevent accidental starting (Safe Stop!); Make sure drivers are aware of the locations and heights of overhead power lines and check that your machinery will safely pass under wires and restrictions, especially where there is a risk of overturn with vehicles potentially being at a different angle; Take special care to check for vehicles following behind before turning right into fields or yards, as this is a common cause of accidents; Regularly clear up any mud deposits from roads and alert drivers with signage where mud may be present; Be aware of potential walkers in fields with public rights of way and stop the vehicle if people are in close proximity; Keep a mobile phone on you at all times – not left in a tractor or pick-up cab; Use the What3Words App to help emergency services can find your location easily; Take regular breaks to eat, drink and rest, to stave off tiredness, stress, and mental ill-health symptoms. Working on silage clamps: Keep people away from moving vehicles; Ensure a filling plan is followed and that sight rails are visible at all times; Never overfill a silage clamp as this increases the risk of vehicles overturning when rolling or filling; Only use vehicles that are suitable for the task — fitted with an approved safety cab or Roll over Protection Structure (RoPS), well-lugged tyres, suitably weighted, etc.; For indoor clamps, keep away for the first 72 hours, as this is when dangerous nitrogen dioxide gas can form in large quantities; Keep clear of the edge of the clamp (at least 1m) when (un)sheeting or removing tyres. If possible, use mobile access equipment or a hook or a pole to carry out the task safely.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
House passes measures requiring citizenship test, fetal development videos in Iowa schools
Rep. Bob Henderson, R-Sioux City, spoke on the House floor April 17, 2025 on a bill requiring Iowa high school students to pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization civics test to graduate. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch) The Iowa House passed two measures Thursday that would set new educational requirements in Iowa's K-12 school system — one requiring high school students pass the U.S. citizenship test to graduate and another requiring students in grades 5-12 to be shown fetal development videos and graphics. Senate File 369, sent to Gov. Kim Reynolds, would require Iowa high schools to pass the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services naturalization civics test to graduate, beginning in the 2026-27 school year. Students need to earn at least a 60% to pass, and those who fail will be allowed to take the test as many times as necessary to earn a passing grade. Similar graduation requirements have been implemented in other states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky and Wisconsin. Reynolds has advocated for Iowa to have a USCIS civics test requirement in previous legislative sessions, but the measure had failed to make it to her desk. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Rep. Bob Henderson, R-Sioux City, floor manager for the bill, said the measure ensures that young people have a minimum standard of knowledge about the U.S. government as they become old enough to vote and participate in the country's government system. 'Fundamental to the process of running our government is a good knowledge of the framework of our government,' Henderson said. 'We require that someone who's transferring their citizenship from another country to ours offer proof that they know a bit about that framework, after which they are given the privilege of being able to have a say in our country's government. Why would we not have at least the same requirement of the proof of the knowledge of that framework for someone who now is poised to enter that same responsibility, simply because they have lived to a certain age?' There were several amendments filed on the measure. Rep. Chad Ingels, R-Randalia, proposed increasing the current one-semester requirement for civics instruction to one year, in an amendment he withdrew. Rep. Elinor Levin, D-Iowa City, proposed an amendment to requiring Iowa legislators take the USCIS naturalization civics test and have results published in the daily journal, and another providing students the option to pursue a civics service project as an alternative to the test — both of which were voted down. Levin criticized the measure for its emphasis on testing, which she said is not an effective way to make students more civically engaged. Levin, alongside other Democrats, said the bill will place both a new, unfunded mandate on schools and a new hurdle for students seeking to graduate from Iowa high schools. 'This bill is a bad idea,' Levin said. 'It doesn't meet the moment, it doesn't engage students. Instead, it puts in front of them 100-question multiple choice test that may scare them, because it may stop them from graduating.' Levin said at a time when Iowa has just returned to pre-pandemic graduation rates, the new requirement could be the deciding factor for whether a student graduates high school or not. 'I'm worried about the kid who's just planning to graduate high school because their parent had told them that is the one thing they care about, or their grandparents told them that that's the one thing they care about,' Levin said. 'And now they're going to take the test the first time — let's say their sophomore year, right after they finished their civics class — and they don't pass it, they get a 54%. And they say, 'Well, I can either spend the next three years retaking this dumb thing, or next year, when I turn 17, I could drop out, and say sorry, Mom, the state made it impossible for me to graduate.'' Henderson said the bill, passed 60-33, should 'be thought of as an encouragement to knowledge, not a barrier to graduation.' 'Will the knowledge of the heritage and the history and the framework of our country alone make a good citizen?' Henderson said. 'No, but a lack of that knowledge is almost certain to prevent a person from becoming a good contributing citizen. And sadly, there can be found an abundance of examples of that in our current situation.' Lawmakers also passed Senate File 175 in a 60-30 vote Thursday. The legislation, passed by the Senate in a 31-13 vote in February, is this year's version of the 'Meet Baby Olivia' bill — though it does not mention the video developed by anti-abortion group Live Action by name. The bill would require students in grades 5 through 12 be shown ultrasound video and computer-generated rendering or animations depicting 'the humanity of the unborn child by showing prenatal human development, starting at fertilization' in human growth and development classes. Rep. Helena Hayes, R-New Sharon, said the measure is not about abortion, but 'challenges us to see value, beauty and dignity in every stage of human life.' 'It's not teaching about abortion, it brings humanity into the classroom,' Hayes said. 'It allows students to witness human development through high-definition ultrasounds and authentic imagery – we have that technology. … It's biology, it's anatomy, it's science.' At subcommittee meetings on the bill, critics said it was promoting anti-abortion material in public school classrooms and could lead to the distribution of medically inaccurate information. As the bill was amended by House lawmakers to include a provision banning materials on fetal development to be shown in classrooms from an entity that performs or 'promotes' abortion, or that contracts, affiliates, or makes referrals to such organizations, Democrats argued that many reputable medical organizations would be disqualified. Hayes said this language was included to ensure information on fetal development is coming from sources in line with the requirement in the bill to depict the 'humanity' of the fetus. 'Perhaps some of the entities that perform abortions, promote abortion, affiliate, refer, contract with those that do, I would propose that those are antithetical to … the humanity of the unborn child occurs in the womb,' Hayes said. In a back and forth with Hayes, Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, questioned what organizations would be qualify as the 'leading professional organizations and agencies with relevant expertise in the field' listed in the bill, the entities identified as being able to decide if information is medically accurate and research-based — requirements for material that can be shown in classrooms. Hayes mentioned the Mayo Clinic, a health care provider, as one of the potential organizations to be referred to as a leading professional source on this topic. Baeth said his understanding of the amendment language was that material from the Mayo Clinic could not be included in school classrooms on this subject, as the Mayo Clinic performs abortions when necessary to protect the life of the mother. Though Hayes said the state Board of Education will adopt rules to administer and interpret the language in the bill, she agreed with Baeth that the bill's language did not include specification on entities that perform elective versus medically necessary abortions. Baeth said the amendment would functionally ban material from legitimate research organizations that work on issues related to human gestation. 'I find it very hard for anyone reading this amendment — if they're going to read it by the letter of the law, should this become law, this will ban the use of information coming from our research institutions,' Baeth said. '… You're asking for research-based information to be provided — that research is done at institutions that have some sort of association with abortions that are at least performed to protect the life of a mother.' Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa criticizing the measure in a Thursday news release as a step to 'further politicizing Iowa's classrooms and youth.' 'Iowans do not want their children used as political pawns, but the people elected to represent them continue to steamroll them with deeply unpopular policies like this that undermine our youth and put their futures at risk,' Gabriela Fuentes, advocacy strategist manager for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Iowa said in a statement. 'More than 1,200 Iowans have already spoken out against this bill. It's time our lawmakers listen. And, make no mistake, Iowans will hold them accountable.' The measure returns to the Iowa Senate for consideration of the amendment before it would go to the governor's desk. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
