1906.] 



Precautions against Accidents. 



225 



The attention of the Board has been directed to several cases 

 in which serious accidents have occurred owing to the in- 

 sufficient fencing of farm machinery. In 

 Precautions ordinary cases farm machinery is used 



^^^^caused^^by^^^ ^^^^^^ purposes and not in the 



Farm Machinery, manufacture or adaptation of any article 

 for sale, and the provisions of the Factory 

 Acts dealing with the fencing of machinery therefore do not 

 apply. In the case of threshing machines and chaff-cutting 

 machines worked by any motive power other than manual 

 labour the Acts referred to later in this article require the 

 machines to be so constructed as to secure the safety of the 

 person feeding the machine, and farmers should be careful to 

 see that these requirements are effectively complied with. 



Apart from the necessity of securing the safety of men 

 working the machines, the importance of safeguarding other 

 persons against the risk of having some part of their clothing 

 accidentally caught or entangled in machinery is one that ought 

 not to be overlooked, and the Board would urge all farmers to 

 take special precautions in this direction. All shafting, whether 

 vertical, horizontal, or oblique, which is not more than seven feet 

 from the ground or floor, should be fenced by metal or wooden 

 coverings. This should also be done with belting. 



Gearing and cog-wheels should also be covered with a wire 

 cage or some similar protection, while fly-wheels, water-wheels, 

 and other parts of the machinery should be securely fenced. 



Boilers used for generating steam should be thoroughly 

 examined by an insurance company's engineer or other com- 

 petent person at least once in every fourteen months. 



The main provisions of the Threshing Machines Act, 1878, 

 and the Chaff-Cutting Machines (Accidents) Acts, 1897, are 

 given below. 



Threshing Machines Act^ 1878. — This Act, which does not 

 apply to Scotland or Ireland, provides that the drum and feed- 

 ing mouth of every threshing machine, worked by steam or by 

 any motive power other than manual labour, shall at all times 

 when working be kept sufficiently and securely fenced, so far as 

 is reasonably practicable and consistent with the due and effi- 

 cient working of the machine. 



