This year is the 10th annual Farm Safety Week and agriculture continues to have the poorest safety record in the UK and Ireland. In these past 10 years there has been an overwhelming 363 people that have lost their lives to a farm related incident.
According to the HSE fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing GB report 2021/22, 25 people including a 9 year old child have lost their lives on farms over the past year. An improvement on last years total of 41, yet still a devastating amount of lives to have lost.
The agriculture industry employs just 1% of the working population in Great Britain however accounts for 18% of all workplace fatal injuries. The agriculture industry not only presents hazards to workers but to anyone visiting or living on a farm.
Thanks to funding from NFU Mutual, training sessions to over 18,000 young farmers in land based colleges and universities across the UK and through the young farmers club have been delivered to make the industry a safer place.
“The bottom line is, farmers of ALL ages need to challenge and change their attitudes so we can make our farms safer places to work and live”
Read the full report from Stephanie Berkeley, Manager, Farm Safety Foundation here
