Fatal and serious injuries occur every year from activities associated with bale handling and stacking. Bale stacking is a skill that has to be learned and demands the application of knowledge and experience to do it safely. Anyone involved in handling bales should follow the guidance available, it covers how to build safe stacks, where to build stacks, if the stack is to be covered, how to do so safely and how to manage the risk to children. Making sure the stack remains safe goes beyond the initial build, conditions change and attention is needed to make sure the stack remains stable, especially once bales are being removed from the stack.
The Health and Safety Executive has published a guide for people involved with the handling and stacking of round and square bales. Following the guidance in this leaflet could help prevent many of the accidents and much of the ill health associated with the handling and stacking of bales in agriculture.
Download the guide:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg125.pdf
