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Mike Nixon fell via a shed roof to wash the guttering. He landed on a concrete scrape passage and sustained a severe spinal twine harm.
It started like a traditional work morning however resulted in catastrophe. Watch him inform his story within the video and skim the remainder of the report beneath.
See additionally: Discover out extra about our Dying to Feed you marketing campaign
It was a daily morning. We met within the yard as common – about 7.30am. We have been having the standard dialog about what we have been doing that day.
It was raining and the gutter was blocked with trash, so the water was overflowing into the shed.
I had the thought of going up there and sorting it out. I’m that kind of individual – I see a job in entrance of me that wants doing, and I simply get on with it.
So I didn’t use any harnesses or crawling boards or something like that.
I acquired my mate to place me up within the loader bucket. As soon as I used to be up there, I walked alongside the beam both facet of the gutter between the 2 sheds.
The roof on one facet was corrugated tin and on the opposite facet was asbestos.
My granddad was a farmer and my stepbrother, Chris, additionally farmed. I’ve all the time liked livestock, and the plan was for me to work on a livestock farm, however to have a combined arable farm too.
I’d began out on the age of 16 at Moulton School. I’d joined Younger Farmers and ended up doing the AGMs in Blackpool and stuff like that.
It was an awesome friendship group – however the farm security facet of issues didn’t function a lot.
After I began out with my employers, security was an enormous factor. However on a farm, you don’t all the time see the hazard till it’s too late.
Clearly there was a hazard there. It’s a kind of issues that you just suppose: “It received’t occur to me.” Nevertheless it did.
The sheds themselves have been most likely 60-70 years outdated. However the beam was strong metallic, so I made a decision to straddle it, pondering I might be protected.
There was a shrub rising within the gutter. I pulled it and a bit snapped off, which threw me backwards.
They advised me I wouldn’t stroll once more
I misplaced my footing and my left foot went although the asbestos.
I fell 28ft and landed on the concrete scrape passage the place the calves have been. If I had landed about two or three toes to 1 facet, I might have landed on recent bedding and it will have been a totally totally different scenario. However I didn’t.
I knew right away I had misplaced my legs. I couldn’t really feel them in any respect. My work mate with me advised me to maintain calm and simply keep nonetheless. Then he rang for the ambulance.
He was so calm and chilled, it actually helped.
I keep in mind attending to the hospital. The marketing consultant advised me I had a reasonably dangerous spinal twine harm. I had damaged my sternum and 7 ribs.
They advised me I wouldn’t stroll once more and I spent the subsequent three months mendacity flat on my again.
I cried at first. However as soon as I acquired over the preliminary shock, I knew I needed to get on with it.
I’m going to the gymnasium, and possibly sooner or later I’ll recuperate. However I don’t do the gymnasium stuff simply on the off-chance {that a} miracle will occur and I’d stroll once more.
For me, the gymnasium is my approach of going someplace and with the ability to overlook about every thing.
On that day, I didn’t see the hazard. And searching again at among the different stuff I used to do on the farm, I used to be fortunate to get away with it.
Sadly, that one time I didn’t get away with it. I’m fortunate to nonetheless be right here.
My message is that you may say no.
If there’s something your farm supervisor or your boss asks you to do and also you don’t really feel glad doing it – possibly since you don’t have the precise {qualifications} or coaching – then simply say no and keep protected.
Tips on how to cut back threat when doing roof work
- Falls from roofs, and thru fragile roofs and roof lights are probably the most frequent causes of office demise and severe harm
- You need to think about whether or not the work must be executed – or may or not it’s executed in another approach, equivalent to from beneath or from an built-in work platform
The Well being and Security Govt says you need to:
- Plan the work
- Put aside sufficient time to do it
- Take account of climate situations
- Make certain everybody is aware of the precautions to be adopted
- Repair a distinguished warning discover on the method to any fragile roof
- By no means stroll on fragile supplies equivalent to asbestos or different fibre cement sheet, roof lights or glass roof lights – and keep in mind some glass could have been painted over
- By no means “stroll the purlins” or “stroll the road of the bolts”
- Roof ladders or crawling boards should span at the very least three purlins. They need to be at the very least 600mm broad – extra if required
- Don’t use a pair of boards to “leapfrog” throughout a fragile roof, however present sufficient boards
- Take precautions to forestall an individual falling from the ladder or board
- Use edge safety or security harnesses, or security netting the place this isn’t possible. Take specialised recommendation
- Roof ladders have to be securely positioned, with the anchorage bearing on the alternative facet of the roof. By no means use gutters to help any ladder.
Dying to Feed You
In regards to the marketing campaign
Farming has the best variety of office fatalities of all occupations. Farmers Weekly is pledging to make use of its voice, affect and attain to scale back the accident fee in agriculture.
Discover out how one can be part of serving to us change agriculture’s security file at fwi.co.uk/dying-to-feed-you
Accomplice message
The workforce at Security Revolution are delighted to be working with Farmers Weekly to scale back deaths in agriculture and to point out how we will work collectively to create safer farms.
Constructing robust and constructive security cultures delivers glad and protected groups, fewer incidents and improved productiveness. We stay up for exploring particular person case research and shining a lightweight
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