Product Overview

Summary: This Silage Production Safe Operating Procedure provides a clear, step-by-step method for producing, handling and storing silage safely and efficiently on Australian farms. It helps control key agricultural hazards, protect workers and livestock, and safeguard fodder quality while supporting compliance with WHS and biosecurity requirements.

Silage production is a critical operation for many Australian grazing and intensive livestock enterprises, but it also presents significant risks. From operating forage harvesters and loaders around trucks and bunkers, to working at heights on stacks and managing fermentation gases in silage pits, there are numerous points where people, machinery and environmental conditions intersect. This Silage Production Safe Operating Procedure provides a structured, practical framework to manage these risks while maintaining feed quality and minimising waste.

The SOP walks your team through the full silage lifecycle: crop assessment and timing of harvest, traffic and machinery planning, safe silage harvesting and transport, bunker and stack construction, compaction, covering, sealing, storage monitoring and safe feed-out. It embeds WHS principles into everyday farm practice—clarifying roles and responsibilities, standardising communication, and documenting controls for machinery, dust, noise, manual handling, working near edges, and interaction with contractors. By implementing this procedure, you create a consistent, defendable system of work that helps protect workers, contractors, visitors and livestock, while also supporting productivity, fodder quality and regulatory compliance under Australian WHS and biosecurity law.

Key Benefits

• Reduce the risk of serious incidents involving tractors, loaders, trucks and forage harvesters during silage operations.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality silage through standardised processes for harvest timing, compaction, sealing and storage.
• Demonstrate due diligence and compliance with Australian WHS and agricultural safety requirements for seasonal and contract work.
• Streamline induction and training for farm staff and contractors with a clear, documented procedure for all silage tasks.
• Minimise feed losses, contamination and spoilage, protecting animal health and improving overall farm profitability.

Who is this for?

• Farm Owners and Managers
• Dairy Farm Managers
• Beef Feedlot Managers
• Mixed Cropping and Livestock Producers
• Farm Supervisors and Leading Hands
• Silage Contractors and Operators
• Agricultural Machinery Operators
• WHS Advisors in Agriculture
• Agronomists and Farm Consultants

Hazards Addressed

• Machinery entanglement and crush injuries around forage harvesters, mowers, rakes, balers and loaders
• Vehicle and plant collisions in silage paddocks, laneways and bunker areas
• Roll-over risks when operating tractors and loaders on bunkers, stacks and uneven ground
• Falls from height when building, inspecting or covering silage stacks and bunkers
• Exposure to silage gases (e.g. nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide) in enclosed or poorly ventilated storage areas
• Manual handling injuries from handling covers, tyres, sandbags, silage wrap and feed-out tasks
• Dust, bioaerosols and mould exposure from handling and feeding out silage
• Noise exposure from prolonged operation of tractors, harvesters and associated plant
• Cuts, punctures and trip hazards associated with silage plastic, net wrap, twine and tyre wires
• Fire risk from machinery, hot surfaces and spontaneous combustion in poorly managed stacks

Included Sections

• 1.0 Purpose and Scope
• 2.0 Definitions and Terminology (Silage Types, Structures and Equipment)
• 3.0 Roles, Responsibilities and Consultation Requirements
• 4.0 Pre-Planning and Risk Assessment for Silage Operations
• 5.0 Crop Assessment, Harvest Timing and Quality Targets
• 6.0 Traffic Management and Machinery Coordination Plan
• 7.0 Required Competencies, Training and Induction
• 8.0 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Requirements
• 9.0 Safe Operating Procedure – Harvesting and In-Field Operations
• 10.0 Safe Operating Procedure – Transport, Loading and Unloading
• 11.0 Safe Operating Procedure – Bunker and Stack Construction and Compaction
• 12.0 Working at Heights and Edge Protection on Bunkers and Stacks
• 13.0 Covering, Sealing and Weighting Silage Safely
• 14.0 Gas, Atmosphere and Confined Space Considerations for Silage Structures
• 15.0 Safe Storage, Monitoring and Inspection of Silage
• 16.0 Safe Feed-Out and Livestock Interaction with Silage Areas
• 17.0 Hazard Identification, Controls and Residual Risk Register
• 18.0 Contractor Management and Site Rules for Silage Production
• 19.0 Environmental and Biosecurity Controls (Runoff, Waste, Contamination)
• 20.0 Emergency Procedures and Incident Response (Machinery, Falls, Gas Exposure)
• 21.0 Maintenance, Housekeeping and Waste Management (Plastic, Netting, Tyres)
• 22.0 Documentation, Records and Continuous Improvement

Legislation & References

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Cth and relevant state/territory variants)
• Work Health and Safety Regulations 2011 (Cth and relevant state/territory variants)
• Safe Work Australia – Managing Risks of Plant in the Workplace Code of Practice
• Safe Work Australia – Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice
• Safe Work Australia – How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice
• Safe Work Australia – Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice
• AS 2550 series: Cranes, hoists and winches – Safe use (as applicable to lifting equipment used around silage sites)
• AS/NZS 4024 series: Safety of machinery
• National Heavy Vehicle Law (as adopted in participating states/territories) – for on-farm heavy vehicle movements
• Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) and relevant state/territory biosecurity legislation – for feed and fodder management