Farming.

[lawnseed]

slurry tanks are essential in modern irish farming, every farmer is completely aware of the gas problem. the thing is you just dont think its going to happen to you. not far from where i am 2 brothers died in a similar accident a few years ago. it just comes out of the blue. cattle have been killed in agricultural colleges during term time and right infront of students thats how freaky this is. i dont know if its pockets of gas under the crust of whether its laying on the bottom of the tank or its whatever the animals are being fed but it just happens so fast you dont have time to react. i had to pull a guy i used to work for out of a shed he just passed out as i was walking past. when he came round after a minute he said he didnt feel a thing the doors were open and a breeze was blowing through the shed it still got him. its possible to fit aerators that blow air through the slurry this reduces the smell and the chances of gas forming but they are expensive to fit and run. either way this is a tragic accident

[Tony Baloney]

slurry tanks are essential in modern irish farming, every farmer is completely aware of the gas problem. the thing is you just dont think its going to happen to you. not far from where i am 2 brothers died in a similar accident a few years ago. it just comes out of the blue. cattle have been killed in agricultural colleges during term time and right infront of students thats how freaky this is. i dont know if its pockets of gas under the crust of whether its laying on the bottom of the tank or its whatever the animals are being fed but it just happens so fast you dont have time to react. i had to pull a guy i used to work for out of a shed he just passed out as i was walking past. when he came round after a minute he said he didnt feel a thing the doors were open and a breeze was blowing through the shed it still got him. its possible to fit aerators that blow air through the slurry this reduces the smell and the chances of gas forming but they are expensive to fit and run. either way this is a tragic accident

As J70 says if you can't prevent, you detect. A sensor clipped to the boiler suit would soon let you know the score before it is too late. As Denn says H2S can only be smelt at low concentrations after which you will smell nothing and it is too late.

[J70]

In addition to olfactory fatigue, H2S is also heavier than air. Even if the shed is well ventilated, it can still accumulate  within the pit. The only answer is to get people and animals out when disturbing slurry.

Someone mentioned a child being lost through a manhole. We had a relatively new setup, but in addition to the cover, we had a hinged grate underneath it which protected it when the cover was off. I'm assuming that's standard  now?

[southdown]

We have the grating too, but im sure a lot of the older farms dont have these fitted.

[Dougal Maguire]

I think there needs to be a fundamental review into the safety of the entire slurry operation with a view to tightening things up before there are more fatalities. Such a review should not be confined to the farm yard but should extend to the surrounding road network. I was driving between Tandragee and Armagh today, it was wet and the road was covered in muck from farmers exiting fields with tractors and slurry tankers. It was hugely dangerous, worse than hitting black ice as there was nothing to warn motorists of the impending danger.

[RadioGAAGAA]

This might start a big push from the HSE for sensors like happened with CO detectos when those two young fellas died in Portrush. Would be a few hundred quid well spent.

Hmmm, IMO a wee oxygen tank and mask in the shed might be more effective.

If you have to go into the pit, then you put the mask on and turn on the oxygen. Forget about a sensor that can passively fail.

[RadioGAAGAA]

I think there needs to be a fundamental review into the safety of the entire slurry operation with a view to tightening things up before there are more fatalities. Such a review should not be confined to the farm yard but should extend to the surrounding road network. I was driving between Tandragee and Armagh today, it was wet and the road was covered in muck from farmers exiting fields with tractors and slurry tankers. It was hugely dangerous, worse than hitting black ice as there was nothing to warn motorists of the impending danger.

So ye want the farmers to sweep the roads of muck every time they drive in and out of a field?

Catch yerself on and drop 10 mph off your speed.

[Dougal Maguire]

http://www.countryfile.com/news/insurance-firms-highlight-dangers-muddy-roads

[J70]

I think there needs to be a fundamental review into the safety of the entire slurry operation with a view to tightening things up before there are more fatalities. Such a review should not be confined to the farm yard but should extend to the surrounding road network. I was driving between Tandragee and Armagh today, it was wet and the road was covered in muck from farmers exiting fields with tractors and slurry tankers. It was hugely dangerous, worse than hitting black ice as there was nothing to warn motorists of the impending danger.

So ye want the farmers to sweep the roads of muck every time they drive in and out of a field?

Catch yerself on and drop 10 mph off your speed.

When needed, yes. They're public roads. Myself and the auld boy used to do it when it was bad. The worst of it would always be over the first  50 yards anyway.

[Tony Baloney]

This might start a big push from the HSE for sensors like happened with CO detectos when those two young fellas died in Portrush. Would be a few hundred quid well spent.

Hmmm, IMO a wee oxygen tank and mask in the shed might be more effective.

If you have to go into the pit, then you put the mask on and turn on the oxygen. Forget about a sensor that can passively fail.

Granted the farmer would need to keep sensors calibrated as they would need to make sure their BA was in good nick also.

[RadioGAAGAA]

When needed, yes. They're public roads. Myself and the auld boy used to do it when it was bad. The worst of it would always be over the first  50 yards anyway.

Yez must have been running out of one or two fields all day or had loads of time on yer hands to be at that!


If your racing around in December trying to get animals fed and your dropping off bales in a number of different fields, stopping the cattle actually starving takes priority over a car maybe possibly having an accident due to muck on the road.



Obviously if your dragging what seems like half a field onto a road, and there is a risk of a clump actually dragging a car into a ditch, then yes, it needs cleaned, but not the wee clumps that fly off from between treads when getting up to speed. That is unreasonable IMO.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Granted the farmer would need to keep sensors calibrated as they would need to make sure their BA was in good nick also.

Aye, well, my point is simple.

- your never sure if the sensor is working till its too late.
- you know instantly if the O2 bottle is working.

[oakleafgael]

When needed, yes. They're public roads. Myself and the auld boy used to do it when it was bad. The worst of it would always be over the first  50 yards anyway.

Yez must have been running out of one or two fields all day or had loads of time on yer hands to be at that!


If your racing around in December trying to get animals fed and your dropping off bales in a number of different fields, stopping the cattle actually starving takes priority over a car maybe possibly having an accident due to muck on the road.



Obviously if your dragging what seems like half a field onto a road, and there is a risk of a clump actually dragging a car into a ditch, then yes, it needs cleaned, but not the wee clumps that fly off from between treads when getting up to speed. That is unreasonable IMO.

Your entitled to that opinion but having been on the wrong end of the man in the wig regarding the same thing your very wrong.

[RadioGAAGAA]

Your entitled to that opinion but having been on the wrong end of the man in the wig regarding the same thing your very wrong.

What'd the asshole* do and how bad was the road?




*I reserve that term for pretty much all involved in the legal system. 

[Dougal Maguire]

Had the weekend tragedy involved a car accident, where a family of 3 died when the driver lost control of their car after hitting a stretch of dirty road, would you still express the same opinions?