When starting work on a new orchard you will meet the harvest supervisor. You will be introduced
to the orchard and provided with important information. The induction manual provides
you with information about the rules, picking requirements and safety aspects of the orchard.
You will also be explained such things as where to park your car, speed limits and the
location of toilets. You will be provided with the citrus harvest handbook which outlines
all of the information presented in these videos and any other information that will
make your work more successful and safer. Do not use tractors or machinery unless you
are authorised to do so. Training will involve a demonstration and assessment on the correct
and safe use of the tractor or machine. Do not ride on the trailers , do not ride in
the bin trailers, do not consume alcohol at the farm, do not leave rubbish in the Orchard.
Take all of your rubbish out of the orchard. Do not place personal items beside the bin,
your items are at risk of being damaged by machinery. Put your personal items in a safe
place. Do not bring children onto the orchard. You need to be properly dressed and have the
appropriate equipment for safe and efficient harvest work. Apply sunscreen to all parts
of the exposed body. Wear a hat and safety glasses. Flexible arm glasses are often more
comfortable than stiff armed glasses. Wear a long sleeved shirt with a strong weave fabric.
A high visibility shirt is safer around machinery. Use a fruit picking bag. Select a bag suitable
to your safe carrying capacity. Mandarins are sometimes picked into special rigid padded
bags. Wear soft fabric gloves, replace the gloves when broken or to dirty. Damaged fruit
can be on the tree. Pick this fruit but do not put it in the bag. Throw this fruit away.
Throw away all fruit that a split or diseased. Do not pick in the rain or if fruit are wet
from the rain or morning dew. Only pick the trees once fruit and leaves are dry. If you
see a fruit with a stem, break off the stem before putting it in the bag. Do not throw
the fruit into the bag, bring your hand down to the bag and place it into the bag. Do not
pick up any fruit that have fallen onto the ground. Do not pick fruit into buckets. The
harvest supervisor will not let you start picking in the morning until the air temperature
is about 12�C, you will also not be able to pick in summer if it gets too hot. Do not
overfill picking bags, filled with fruit level to the top of the bag. Do not place a ladder
on trees with fruit remaining on the lower parts of the canopy, first pick the lower
parts of the canopy and then use the ladder to pick the upper part of the canopy. At the
end of the day shake out the bag to remove any leaves and twigs or insects that may have
fallen into the bag. To unload fruit, hang the bag over the bin, hold the side of the
bin as this will help to support your back as you lower the bag, lower the bag using
your arms to carry most of the weight, unhooked the straps and slowly lift the bag to gently
released a fruit into the bin. Do not drop the fruit into the bin, always lower the bag
into the bin before unloading. Do not put the bag on the side of the bin, always hang
the bag directly into the bin ready to be lowered. After unloading the fruit check the
fruit and remove stems from any fruit. Do not use bins that have any dirt or debris,
clean the bin out with a rag or brush until clean. Do not under fill bins with fruit,
you might be asked to fill the bin properly wasting your valuable picking time, fill bins
level to the top. You can move the bin by rotating it on its side. To do this first
lift the side of the bin by bending the knees and keeping the back straight, lift it onto
its side then twist the bin around and roll it to its new position. Mandarins harvested
by clipping fruit with special snips. There are different kinds of snips, see the separate
video or the citrus harvest handbook for more information. To clip the fruit lightly lay
there snips on top of the fruit, at the base of the stem, and snip the fruit. Snip the
fruit as low as possible to the base of the stem, do not leave high stems. High stems
will damage and puncture other fruit. Trim off stems that are too high. Be careful not
to scrape or cut fruit with the snips, do not cut bunches of fruit down as this can
damage next season's fruiting wood. Do not pull fruit down this can damage the top of
the fruit. Use a ladder to pick high fruit . Double-clipping is used to pick mandarins
not in close reach or in some orchards it is a requirement for snipping all fruit. Snip
the fruit at an easily accessible spot, about 2 to 10 cm above the fruit, bring the fruit
closer to yourself then snip the fruit. On some orchards mandarin picking bins might
be covered with a cloth to protect them from sun and heat damage. Do not throw mandarins
into picking bags, always place the fruit into bags. To carry a ladder place one hand
at the shoulder height rung and the other hand at the hip height rung. Lift and move
the ladder whilst in a vertical position, do not place both hands on the same rung as
this gives low stability and can cause injury to yourself or others. Picking ladders are
slightly curved. The curve should be facing towards you. Do not use the ladder with the
curve facing away from you. Position the latter on strong branches of the tree, move the ladder
around until it feels secure. Do not place a ladder in between trees or on weak branches.
If the soil is raised or mounted along the tree line do not position the ladder so it
is on an angle, always position the ladder so the rungs are level to the horizon. On
mounded plantings platform ladders should also not be positioned on an angle. Position
platform ladders straight onto the tree. Be careful to not drag irrigation lines when
moving the ladder around trees. If it is moved put it back to its place. Always lift the
later over irrigation lines. Do not climb up ladders with bags near filled with fruit,
it�s heavy work and increases the risk of you falling off the ladder. Climb up to the
top of the tree with an empty bag, pick fruit and work your way down the tree filling the
bag. Do not stand on one side of the ladder and do not lean over far. Place feet evenly
on the centreline of the ladder. Only pick fruit within a safe reach. Do not pick on
bins or any other elevated objects. There should always be three points of contact with
the ladder, one hand and two feet. As a guide the hips should be lower than the top rung
of the ladder. Do not stand at a height where you only have two points of contact or your
hips are higher than the top rung of the ladder. Do not use ladders that are bent, broken or
cracked, only use a ladder that is not damaged. If your ladder is damaged reported to the
supervisor and use an undamaged ladder. Always use the toilets provided by the orchard and
always wash your hands with soap after using the toilets and use the toilets in the correct
manner. If you see a snake in the orchard move away from the snake, alert all other
workers around you and contact the supervisor immediately. Do not try to kill or interfere
with the snake.