It is celebrated today the World Day for Health and Safety at Work. It is an opportunity to remember that even in the olive oil sector the risk is always present as unfortunately they also confirm recent news episodes. OlivoNews had recently published an article on prevention in the oil mill. It seems useful, on this occasion, to recall some good rules on safety in the cultivation and production of olives contained in an Inail document on risks for workers called “Oil safety”.
Inail started from an investigation in which “it clearly emerged that in all phases of olive cultivation there are present risks to the safety of workers. Family management, in many cases, does not favor the application of the main prevention measures and the risk of accidents is therefore high". Furthermore, the processes necessary for the cultivation of the olive tree are often carried out “are made even more difficult by the climatic conditions and the orographic characteristics of the land, which are difficult to access by mechanical means”. And in small companies, “the perception of risk is poor and the training activity is taken for granted, while it is easy for bad practices to be the result of long-standing habits handed down for generations and therefore difficult to eradicate”.
Safety in the olive grove planting
Remembering that most of the olive groves “they are located in hilly and arid areas, however without irrigation systems”, we focus on the indication of the main risks for workers in some phases of olive cultivation.
Let's start from the olive grove planting, the methods "they do not differ essentially from the traditional operations of cultivating land to be used for tree planting".
However, it can be noted from the observations carried out during the project activities that “particular attention is paid to leveling the plot of land, to safeguard the organic substance of the soil by minimizing earth movements. This is necessary to eliminate bumps and depressions, to give the land the desired slope and the appropriate leveling aimed at reducing erosion, to eliminate water stagnation, to encourage mechanization and allow, where required, the adoption of irrigation systems that use gravity to move water".
In particular, the risks associated with this work phase are those generated by the use of the tractor and machines, in particular for:
• “coupling to the tractor;
• the instability of the driving/operating combination (carried or semi-carried);
• tipping and rearing;
• the instability of the operators at rest;
• poor maintenance;
• the use of electrical or electronic devices;
• oil-hydraulic or pneumatic systems;
• inhalation of exhaust gases produced by tractors;
• exposure to noise and vibrations;
• exposure to dust inhalation;
• exposure to biological agents”.
These are the prevention measures indicated for the risk of overturning:
• “evaluate the nature and conditions of the land;
• operate in situations of tractor stability;
• avoid sudden maneuvers and sharp bends;
• avoid, as far as possible, traveling on transverse slopes;
• maintain adequate distances from edges and slopes;
• carry out periodic maintenance of the entire machinery;
• take rest breaks;
• specific training for operating the vehicle”.
Safety in fertilization
We then provide some indications for the phase “background fertilization” which has the purpose of “to guarantee the soil a reserve of mineral elements which, slowly released, allow an increase in the level of soil fertility”. Bottom fertilization is generally carried out “before the break-in, the task of distributing the fertilizers along the entire profile will be entrusted to the intervention”.
The risks linked to fertilization are also mostly those relating to the use of machinery, i.e. to:
• "coupling to the tractor;
• instability of the driving/operating combination (carried or semi-carried);
• tipping and rearing;
• instability of operators at rest;
• incorrect maintenance;
• use of electrical or electronic devices;
• hydraulic or pneumatic systems;
• exhaust gases produced by tractors;
• transmission of rotary motion from the tractor to the operators;
• contact with the motion transmission organs (grasping, winding and dragging);
• contact with working organs;
• accidental operation of the controls;
• loss or breakage of safety pins;
• use of electrical or electronic devices;
• projection of materials”.
The risks are also related to contact and exposure to chemical and biological agents.
And here are the prevention measures for biological risk:
• “avoid contact with organic fertilizers;
• avoid consuming food during operations;
• at the end of the work proceed correctly with adequate hygiene operations of the parts in contact with the organic fertilizers".
And for the chemical risk:
• “evaluate whether the substances contained in fertilizers are dangerous;
• read the safety data sheets;
• avoid contact with chemical fertilizers;
• avoid smoking and consuming food during operations;
• correctly position the fertilizer discharge orientation devices;
• proceed with correct hygiene operations”.
For those interested in further measures, here it is publication of the Inail manual.
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