Gordon Noble, Regional QUENSH Assessor (North)

Tell us a little bit about your background? When did you join ForFarmers?

I started with ForFarmers 19 years ago as a driver based out of Preston. In 2016 the role of Farm Risk Assessor came up and I jumped at the chance. Ever since then, I have been visiting farms and assessing safety right across the north of the UK.

What does your role involve?

Gordon out on farm

There is a lot of variety to my role, but one of my key tasks is visiting farms and checking vehicle access so that we can ensure safe deliveries.

When I’m on farm I look at a number of safety related things. It could be for instance, the location of overhead cables near a bulk feed delivery point where one of the bulk feed vehicles needs to raise its body. I look out for power cables, soft ground, unusual angles and restrictive access to delivery points. I also consider the routes that our vehicles take to farm, considering if the roads are suitable for heavy goods vehicles or if there are bridges with weight restrictions.

Ultimately it comes down to finding solutions so that we can get deliveries to our customers safely. I believe this role is unique to ForFarmers and it’s just one of the many things we do to ensure an exceptional level of service for our customers.

Why do you think Farm Safety Week is important?

While for us, every week is farm safety week, it’s a great opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of health and safety in agriculture. It’s all about helping people to become more aware of the dangers and hazards, so they can explore solutions and ways to mitigate them. We all know the facts about what a dangerous industry agriculture is, and we all have a role to play in making it safer.

What do you like about working for ForFarmers?

It may sound old-fashioned but I really like working for a company with such strong values. Everything we do comes down to putting the customer first, by offering high-quality solutions and delivering them in a safe and timely manner. I really believe we are always striving for the best for our customers, and I get an immense amount of satisfaction knowing that we offer such a high-level of service.

How have ForFarmers supported you throughout your career?

Moving from my role as a driver to my current role was quite a change for me, but right from the beginning I was given lots of autonomy and opportunities to develop. However, I was never without support from the wider team if I needed it. This level of support has continued as we have merged to become part of the wider safety team covering Quality Environmental and Safety and Health to become the QUENSH team.

Tell us a bit about what you do outside of work?

My favourite thing outside of work has to be being a Grandad – it definitely keeps me on my toes! However, I also really enjoy scuba diving, particularly in places where it’s warmer and the visibility is better such as the Red Sea and Thailand. In the UK we also like to get out and about in nature. We’re lucky to have so many places on our doorstep and you never have to travel too far to see something interesting.