The groundcare industry has increased the focus on operator health & safety issues with two recent separate dealer open day events. Rickerbys of Carlisle held the first at historic Alnwick Castle, closely followed by an event in their area by the Wakefield based Golf & Turf Machinery dealership.

At the Golf & Turf Machinery event, in addition to exhibits by leading industry names such as IPU, Ransomes Jacobsen, Shibaura, Reform and G.G.M. there was an informative talk by a Health & Safety Executive inspector on working on slopes and hand and arm vibration issues.

There was also the opportunity for the invited Local Authority and professional Groundcare attendees to get ‘hands-on’ throughout the day, with the array of machinery on view and network concerning the particular issues they have with regard to the maintenance of steeply sloping terrain.

Simon Richard the UK Agent for the Reform Bank Tractor, Muthing Flail and Shibaura professional compact tractor product ranges commented “any effort to raise the profile of operator safety is to be welcomed and can only be a good thing.

Both events were extremely informative and generated an excellent response from the visitors seeking cost-effective solutions.”