Case Study
Kemble Farms
How it works in practice on a Dairy Farm
Kemble Farms run a milking herd of 800 cows based at Kemble, Gloucestershire. The Business also grows a range of arable and feed crops across 1200 hectares and has a diversified range of activities including a Livery Yard and has established one of the first UK Bio-gas Plants. The Business is run on a day to day basis by David Ball, Farms Director.
The Business decided two years ago that it needed a step change in the way it addressed Health and Safety, Staff Contracts of Employments and associated documentation. ‘We turned to Oliver and his team because we were impressed by the very specialist skills that they bought and their exclusive focus on agriculture and the dairy sector in our case’ commented David. Early work included a complete review of existing systems and documentation and a revision to all of those. New, bespoke Risk Assessments were produced and staff were engaged in the process of looking at risk and agreeing how to reduce the likelihood of an accident. Steady progress has been made over the last two years with regular visits, staff meetings and through telephone and email support. ‘As we have dealt with our issues one by one we have gradually introduced changes that have allowed us to go on and make further improvements – talking with the team here and involving them has been a key part of doing that successfully ’ David added.
Subsequent work has involved completing a COSHH Risk Assessment and a detailed Fire Risk Assessment in high risk areas like the Parlour and Farm Yard areas. A comprehensive handbook of policies and procedures is now used to help staff understand their responsibilities and as a basis for managing them more effectively. ‘We recognise the need to keep a watching brief and to help clients identify what would be considered reasonable ways of improving both their safety systems and their relationship with their team – to ultimately deliver improved performance across the Business’ concluded DMS Managing Director Oliver Dale.
Farm Safety
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