Farm Safety Week: Looking after your hands around the farm

Common injuries are usually caused by everyday tasks that farmers have done so many times before that they risk becoming complacent or losing concentration.

Resulting injuries can range from minor cuts caused by barbed wire, to fractures from heavier animals that startle in confined spaces.

Being careful can reduce the likelihood of accidents but can’t stop them from happening entirely.

To avoid injuries like these, here are some top tips to keep your hands safe on the farm:

• Use your common sense and wear protective gear like gloves and safe footwear
• Keep children away from machinery and follow machinery safety advice
• Take general medical precautions like making sure your tetanus immunisation is up to date (this can make a big difference in preventing the spread of infection, if an accident does happen)
• When an incident occurs, make sure that you get the appropriate treatment needed and don’t just put on a brave face
• Apply direct pressure to bleeding if possible
• Hold your hand up above your head to help stop bleeding
• Put your hand under a tap and run water over it to clean away any dirt
• Wrap your hand in a bandage or a clean tea-towel after washing it
• Keep your hand elevated above your head

If the injury has gone all the way through the skin, go to hospital, where they will likely give you an injection of tetanus immunoglobulin for additional protection (all farmyard wounds are more likely to be contaminated by bacteria).

The wound will also need washing out and a course of antibiotics to prevent other bacteria spreading.