The Health and Safety Executive has updated its safety alert on the use of ‘chain flail’ and non-standard attachments on portable brush cutters.
The move follows a European Commission decision to ban the sale of flail-type cutting attachments, consisting of several metal parts, for brush cutters.
A serious risk was first identified in Sweden a few years ago and brought home by a death in the UK in 2010. A 37-year-old employee of a Lincolnshire countryside management was killed after a link from a chain spinning at an estimated 300mph became detached and struck him on the back of the neck.
The HSE said last week that it had again become aware of a dangerous practice involving the fitting of non-standard accessories, not approved by the manufacturers.
Agriculture was one of the industries cited, along with arboroculture and construction.
In contrast with dedicated chain flail machinery, brush cutters typically lack the robust guarding arrangements required to control the risk from articles (including fragments of chain) being ejected with high energy.
What you need to do:
- Any brush cutters fitted with flail or similar non-standard attachments, consisting of several linked metal parts (eg chains) should be taken out of service immediately and the attachments removed and replaced with the manufacturer's approved accessory.
- Manufacturers' advice should be followed as to the appropriate combinations of cutting tools and guards. Such advice is typically available within the instruction books accompanying the machine.