Farmer’s story used to raise awareness of risk of accident in the workplace

Published on Oct 14

The HSE have launched a campaign ‘Make the Promise. Come Home Safe’ which encourages farmers to make a promise to ‘come home safe.’ One of the stories used as part of the campaign of is that of a 24 year old farmer from Northumberland.

He was seriously injured by his shotgun, which he intended to use to shoot crows that were plundering a recently sown barley crop. As he returned to the field after collecting the shotgun from his house, the battery of the ‘twitcher’ of the gun (which attracts crows closer), slipped. As the farmer leaned to adjust it, he lost control of his ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) which veered and then overturned. The jolt caused the shotgun to go off, shooting the farmer in the right leg. He lay in the overturned vehicle, conscious but unable to move, for three hours. His father found him and he was taken to hospital by helicopter. He was unable to work for over a year and the impact on the business was huge. His advice to other farmers is “always to think twice about everything before you start a job.”

The agriculture industry has the highest rate of fatal injuries of all UK industry groups and one of the highest rates of major injuries. The 2008/09 figures showed that fatalities in the agriculture industry were at their lowest rate ever but the 2009/10 figures show an increase in the number of fatalities.

Agricultural workers are more likely to be injured by moving machinery, moving vehicles, falling object and falls from heights than in other UK industries. They are also 11 times more likely to be injured by animals during the course of their work.

Around 400,000 people work in the agriculture industry. That’s 1.5% of the working population but it is a sector that witnesses 15-20% of all worker deaths in the UK. The total cost of injuries in the agriculture industry is estimated at £276 million a year. More than half of this is due to lost output – when an experienced worker is put out of action. The HSE estimates that a further 10,000 accidents in agriculture go unreported and are therefore not taken into consideration in these figures.

Workers need to be given comprehensive training about how to use complicated machinery and precautions need to be taken such as wearing protective clothing and installing guards where appropriate. Employers need to carry out thorough risk assessments to avoid their workers being involved in an accident in the workplace. This includes working at a height, such as moving bales of hay. Other potential risks are exposure to excessive noise or vibration through the use of power tools, breathing in dust or exposure to harmful chemicals and pesticides. If employers do not train their workers to work safely in these hazardous conditions and provide them with the correct protection, they may be acting negligently and risk the occurrence of accidents in the workplace.