Farm Safety Week

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has published a report ‘Fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain 2019/20’ to coincide with Farm Safety Week (20 – 24 July).  Agriculture continues to have the highest rate of worker deaths in Great Britain.  Last year, 21 people were killed, of which one was a young child.  Around half of the workers killed were aged 55 years or older.  You can access the report here.

Transport-related incidents, such as overturning vehicles or being struck by moving vehicles, were responsible for more deaths than any other cause last year.  With many children now on school holiday, the HSE are reminding farmers that it is illegal to carry children under 13 in the cab of an agricultural vehicle.

Harvest

Mindful of the HSE report and the fact that farm workers will be working long hours using agricultural vehicles during harvest, farm owners and managers should:

• Review and, if appropriate, revise their workplace risk assessments
• Provide induction and/ or revision training to all workers
• Carry out a safety audit to monitor compliance of their safety systems
• Remind workers of the steps put in place to work safely during the Covid-19 pandemic

Do get in touch if you need help with getting ready for harvest or have a farm safety query.