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45. All staff, including relief milkers, who milk cows, should be fully competent to perform all milking procedures. Ideally, formal training should be given. When undergoing training, staff must be supervised during milking by competent, trained operators (paragraph 174).
46. The milker must be aware of the correct operation of the machine and be able to carry out simple checks at each milking . It is essential that the milking machine is functioning correctly in terms of vacuum level, pulsation rate and ratio (compatible with the design of clusters) and liner movement (paragraph 175).
47. The Welfare of Livestock Regulations 1994 require automatic equipment, such as milking machines, to be inspected daily and kept in good working order. The equipment should be tested and serviced as necessary (and as recommended by the manufacturer) by a competent person. Each year, a minimum of one full dynamic assessment should be carried out during milking. A record should be kept of the tests completed and a report should be provided to the farmer. Any recommendations made and remedial action to be taken should be recorded and an action plan put into place (paragraph 178).
48. An independent generator, or other device, of a size and capacity for powering the machine and ancillary equipment, should be readily available in the event of electricity supply failure (paragraph 180).