Figures released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on Wednesday show that agriculture remains the UK’s most dangerous industry, despite industry-led efforts to bring down the toll of accidents.

The provisional figures show that between April 2016 and March this year 27 of 137 recorded workplace fatalities were in agriculture. The level of fatal injuries in agriculture is 18 times as high as the all-injury rate, as the sector continues to account for the second highest number of workplace fatalities, despite its small workforce.

Older workers were shown to be at risk in the HSE figures; workers over the age of 60 accounted for around a quarter of all fatal injuries in 2016/17, even though such workers make up only around 10% of the workforce. The isolated nature of agriculture, work with machinery and large animals and the sector’s ageing workforce have been cited as reasons for the high number of accidents in the industry.

HSE said that, having fallen steadily since the 1980s, the rate of workplace fatalities has levelled off in recent years. HSE Chair Martin Temple commented,  “Every fatality is a tragic event that should not happen. While we are encouraged by this improvement on the previous year, we continue unwaveringly on our mission to prevent injury, death and ill health by protecting people and reducing risks.”

Also commenting on the figures, NFU Vice President and chair of the Farm Safety Partnership, Guy Smith, said the reduction in the number of deaths on farms is “Welcome,” (there were 29 deaths on farms in 2015-16) but acknowledged that more needs to be done to address risk in the agriculture industry.

Mr Smith said, “Although the number of agricultural worker deaths has dropped slightly, and we welcome the continued downward trend, twenty seven people losing their lives is still too many. Agriculture continues to have the highest rate of fatal injury in relation to the number of people employed. The fatalities rate per 100,000 employed in agriculture is 7.6% compared to an all industry average of 0.43% and we want to see this reduced.
 
“Safety should be a priority for all British farmers and we are encouraged by the measures that our members are taking to assess risks. The NFU fully supports activities that are making farms safer places and is working closely with industry partners to improve safety awareness.”

On Monday 24 July, the NFU and partners in the Farm safety Partnership will be working together to raise  awareness of accident prevention in Farm Safety Week. There will be a different theme for each day including farm safety statistics, machinery and transport, falls, livestock and slurry and children on  farms. Later in the year, the NFU will be co-hosting a new event with the HSE, encouraging 100 farmers to become safety ambassadors and pushing for a change in attitudes and  behaviours in the sector.