Farm safety week: Fatal injuries double this year
The Agriculture Industry revealed to have the poorest safety record in the UK
From today (Monday 19 July) – until Friday (23 July), the Farm Safety Foundation will hold their ninth annual Farm Safety Week, a campaign which aims to draw attention to, and reduce the injury risk farmers across the UK face on a daily basis.
Farms in Essex have been used for videos taken by the Farm Safety Foundation in the past, and even though they are beautiful places, the foundation are urging the public to know the risks of these countryside areas.
New figures reveal that fatal injuries on UK farms have almost doubled over the past year – from 21 fatalities in 2019/20 to 41 in 2020/21.
According to the Farm Safety Foundation, the charity behind the annual campaign, farmers over the age of 60 accounted for 53% of those killed.
When comparing older and younger age groups the fatal injury rate is over 4 times higher for the 65s and over compared to the 16-24 age group.
7 members of the public lost their lives on GB farms in 2020/21 – 5 adults involving cattle and an additional 2 children.
In a recent survey by the Farm Safety Foundation, almost seven in ten farmers would identify tiredness as a major risk with most having taken, or seen others take, risks due to being tired
Farm Safety Week is an initiative led by the Farm Safety Foundation and supported by the Farm Safety Partnerships, the Health & Safety Executive, Health & Safety Executive for Northern Ireland and the Health & Safety Authority, Ireland
With long hours, intense physical labour, low pay and at the mercy of the elements, farming is a difficult industry to work in, but nearly half a million workers are choosing to be farmers today.
Yet, for a workforce that accounts for a mere 1% of GB’s working population, the industry accounts for nearly a quarter of all workplace fatal injuries, giving it the poorest safety record of any occupation.
Farm safety is an issue rarely discussed outside of agricultural circles but, according to the UK’s leading farm safety charity, the Farm Safety Foundation, this is exactly what we should be doing.
To mark the start of the Farm Safety Foundation’s Farm Safety Week campaign, the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) have shared their annual Fatal Injuries in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing in GB report 2020/21.
This reveals that, over the past year almost twice as many people were killed on farms in Great Britain compared to the previous year.
Ed Ford, a farmer in South Essex said: “This is something I’m deeply passionate about, because our industry has got a rubbish safety record.”
“This is approaching our busiest time on most farms across most of the country. So it’s important to reiterate the message of farm safety.”
“We’ve been running Farm Safety week for years now. It is going from strength to strength and it seems to be giving a positive impact to the industry.”
Ed has been a trustee of the Farm Safety Foundation for two and a half years, and used to be Chairman of the National Federation for Young Farmers.
“Sadly, we saw an increase last year of members of the public who lost their lives on farms. That’s on footpaths, or through livestock attacks. That can be really attributed to Covid, as a lot more people are in the countryside, a lot more people walking – perhaps where they shouldn’t be, like off footpaths.”
“But in the same sentence, it is great to see people out on farms, looking at what we’re doing and learning about what we’re doing.”
“It is a busy time for us and there will be opportunities where some farmers may stop and talk to you about what they’re doing, but in the same sentence, be careful. There are large bits of machinery moving about, please stick to footpaths when you’re in fields – they’re there to keep you safe.”
“Equally with livestock, there are signs up about livestock, never approach them and always keep your dog on a lead.”
“I know several people who have had serious injury, but luckily not so many who have died. I’ve never had a serious injury myself, but it’s just a case of being careful, communicating with your staff, communicating with your family about what you’re doing.”
Acting Head of Agriculture, Health & Safety Executive, Adrian Hodkinson said: “Agriculture is a vital part of our economy and everyone involved is rightly proud of the quality and standard of the food produced.
“However, this appears to come at a significant cost to many farmers and workers in terms of serious injury, lifelong ill health and in some cases death.
“The causes of farm incidents are well known and the things to stop them are usually straightforward: putting on handbrakes; fastening lap belts in cabs; getting ATV training and helmets; putting cows and calves in fields without footpaths; stopping things before trying to fix or unblock them and so on.
“When we investigate life-changing farm workplace incidents we find, time and time again, that risks are not being removed or managed. It is far too common for people to accept risk is an inevitable part of the job – this isn’t the case, the guidance is easily available to manage the risks and prevent injury.
“It is not acceptable that agriculture continues to fail to manage risk in the workplace. We need everyone to play their part to change their own behaviours, do things the right way and ‘call out’ poor practices whenever they are seen.
Adrian positively added: “I’m really encouraged that there now some very high-profile advocates for improvement who see the real benefits for attracting and retaining people and reducing costs. It’s fantastic to see a real focus on maintenance of machinery and trailers, that many ATV users are getting trained and wearing helmets, and cattle handling facilities are being improved.”
Throughout this year’s campaign, the Farm Safety Foundation will highlight the issue of risk-taking, cost-cutting and tiredness on UK and Ireland’s farms and how life-changing and life-ending incidents continue to impact families and communities.
They will be meeting farmers who have experienced this first-hand and, of course, exploring what can be done to address it.
In a recent survey into farmers across the UK carried out with funder NFU Mutual, the Farm Safety Foundation found that many farmers need to be more aware of tiredness and realise how excessively long hours can play into the risks when farming.
Almost seven in ten of those surveyed, identified tiredness as a major risk with most having taken, or seen others take, risks due to being tired.
According to Stephanie Berkeley, Farm Safety Foundation manager: “The fact that farming has a fatality rate almost 20 times the GB industry average is shocking and shameful.
“41 people lost their lives on our farms over the past year including 2 children – this is 18 more than the previous year and we can’t become immune to the impact that these deaths have on farming families and communities.
“We can’t just accept that farming is a dangerous occupation. We have to redouble our efforts to drive a change.
“The main causes of fatal farm incidents have not changed over the past 60 years despite legislation and an increased awareness of the importance of working safely.
“We need to reassess the risk of everyday tasks and think about the long-term consequences of each and every risk we have taken and do something to either remove it or control it.
“As an industry, we need to work together so that farm safety is acknowledged as important. We need to do more than sit around and talk about it. This is why Farm Safety Week is still so important. “We need to engage with farmers of all ages to challenge and change attitudes and ultimately make our farms safer places to work.”
For more information on Farm Safety Week visit www.yellowwellies.org