Thread: Hunting on farm's heaith and saftey

I've found the problem can be getting hunters to follow the really difficult requirements like "You need to wear Hi-Vis vest".
If you can't follow simple rules or think they don't apply to you because your the +1 to your mate that asked don't bother coming.

I'm so glad to be blessed with FCUKING COMMON SENSE! Maybe that's WHY I'm getting OLD!?

Hunt two Private properties for duck shooting and the requirements are polar opposites for each. First farm has no safety requirements no sign in what so ever, just turn up and shoot. The other property I am required to sign in and out, be conversant with the farm health and safety plan and also sign an indemnity form. I'm completely fine with that as it's a privilege to hunt there and it is their lively Hood.

Originally Posted by Tahr

My experience is that mostly Farmers don't understand their legal obligations to recreational users so accordingly over react. Not that a belt and braces approach is unwise.

Unfortunately its being used as a reason to shut up farms.

Basically the farmer (and his staff) have an obligation to warn you about any unusual hazards that you would not usually associate with that sort of farming enterprise.

They do not have to warn about natural hazards.

Read this:

Health and safety responsibilities of farmers to recreational visitors » Walking Access Commission Ara Hīkoi Aotearoa

Bloody bureaucrats think that getting out of their chair is a hazard.

Originally Posted by gonetropo

if they are in a goldfish bowl at a party your marriage is over

Especially if she partners up with someone from the republic of Congo...

Health and safety obligations/risks/rules on their own aren't actually a valid reason to exclude access for recreational activities, because the process of hazard id and management is theoretically less involved than if they were employing workers or contractors. And provided the recreational user was warned of potential hazards, in the event of an incident the landowner/manager won't be hung out to dry. However quite a few landowners will pull the H&S card to say no, almost as an excuse, rather than just say they'd prefer it if you didn't shoot/hunt/fish/walk on their land.

We deal with multiple farming clients (dozens in an average year), in a forestry capacity so have quite stringent systems already in place, and plenty of paperwork to go through before starting a job. The new act meant little to us, the rules are much the same, the processes the same, it just meant keeping more of a record and having systems that were more repetitive than previously and having a written record of 'everything'. It surprises me how many (the majority) of farmers who don't refer to the H&S act or follow rules at all when we step onto their property. You try and get a farmer to wear PPE (hi vis, steel cap boots and a helmet) when entering a forest on their own property that we are undertaking operations in! We had one farmer ride his quad right through a working skid site, where three diggers and a skidder were working...haha

For larger forests we manage we have a access permit agreement that we will issue at our discretion. It is provided with a list of procedures, conditions and expectations while on the property. A list of hazards most likely to be on the property, plus any ones specific to that property. Maps and fire plans with escape routes and various access points provided. The permit holder signs this if they accept our conditions, if they are found to be in breach of them we can revoke the permit.

Any land owner on here got any sad tales to tell about being caught out by big brother ?

Originally Posted by Nugget connaisseur

...id state that work safe has no intention to prosecute farmers for relational activities....

Rightly so- what business is it of theirs to comment on a farmer's sex life?

In my line of work we deal with a lot of farmers , hands down the one,s that make the official rules very confusing are all the health & safety experts out there trying to sell you a "plan" , they trump up everything to make you think you are doing things wrong & your simple notes & information shearing between farms are not really upto scratch whilst technically correct our ''plan" is better ..its no wonder some farmers don't no what the hell to think & just shut the gate there is so much miss information out there mostly construed by experts that want to sell you something . If you want to no what the go is ring worksafe they are surprisingly down to earth.

Originally Posted by video hunter

Any land owner on here got any sad tales to tell about being caught out by big brother ?

That's a good question. As JoshC said above, its not uncommon for HSW legislation to be used as a convenient excuse to say no, rather than a substantive reason of itself.....

Originally Posted by Barefoot

I've found the problem can be getting hunters to follow the really difficult requirements like "You need to wear Hi-Vis vest".
If you can't follow simple rules or think they don't apply to you because your the +1 to your mate that asked don't bother coming.

For some of us it’s a long way to go home and get hi-viz if we forget it 😉