Farm Safety in Shropshire
Shropshire farmers are urged to be aware of fire risks and also take steps to help prevent arson.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service are offering advice to farmers and growers to avoid costly farm fires around the county.
Around 1,600 farm buildings and thousands of acres of land and crops are destroyed by accidental and deliberate fires in the UK each year.
“Many fires on farms can be prevented if farmers are aware of potential fire hazards,” said Derek Taylor, Fire Crime Officer with Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service.
"A farm fire can have a dramatic impact on the business with the loss of stock, buildings and potential asbestos hazards.”
“They also stretch fire service resources with crews on the scene for many hours to ensure that a fire does not spread to other buildings,” he warned.
Fire-fighters attended a total of 64 farm fires in Shropshire since April last year with 23 of them caused deliberately.
Most fires involve stacked and baled crops along with barn fires. Straw, grass, silos, farm buildings and equipment have also gone up in flames.
Arson costs the UK economy £45 million each week and is the largest single cause of fires resulting in 2 deaths and 50 injuries every week.
Simple precautions can prevent arsonists and criminals targeting your premises, if you spend a few minutes and add up the cost of buildings, stock, contents and machinery on your farm you will be surprised at the amount of money you stand to lose if even a small part of your farm was lost to fire.
Assess your farm security; look at locks, fencing, gates. Consider PIR lighting around the buildings and house, the cost of a small CCTV camera has reduced and can be linked into your domestic TV. Consider joining Farm Watch and Ringmaster through West Mercia Police. This is a good early warning system to alert you and your neighbours of any suspicious vehicles in your area who may be stealing scrap or fuel.
Farm machinery should be maintained, work areas with combustible materials controlled, hay and straw removed from fields as soon as possible after harvest and stored, taking care to ensure that it is dry to prevent spontaneous combustion - a common cause of fire in stacked and baled crops.
Fuels, fertilisers and pesticides should be stored in secure areas, annual electric safety checks done, farm security assessed and any fire fighting equipment maintained with any pools or ponds able to be used for fighting fires.
In an emergency call 999 and provide us with the full address of the premises, directions if its location is not obvious for example when along lanes, send someone to the farm entrance to direct the Fire and Rescue Service (Fire appliances may have to travel from outside the local area), Provide any local land mark such as a church or pub.
Be prepared to evacuate livestock should the fire spread and assist us by using farm machinery to move straw/hay, etc.
Farmers may also need to carry out a Fire Risk Assessment under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This legislation would apply to any buildings where people are employed to work or other persons visit. A lot of farms are diversifying and converting barns to holiday let accommodation or providing farmhouse Bed & Breakfast and this could have major cost implications to comply with the requirements of The Order.
For more details visit Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service’s website at
www.shropshirefire.gov.uk or call Business Fire Safety on 01743 260260
