Farmers gathered in Cornwall on Tuesday for a practical workshop in farm safety, following the NFU’s Safe and Healthy Working for all Ages event in October.

image expired

NFU branch chairman John Osborne hosted the event on his dairy and sheep farm in Jacobstow where he was joined by the Farm Safety Partnership and farmers from around the region.

Throughout the day they took part in interactive scenarios covering a range of farm safety issues such as livestock handling, working at a height and use of transport, in order to share practical advice in managing risk.

NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: “It’s great to see our members taking it on themselves to host their own farm safety event and provide others farmers with practical advice about how they can reduce risk on their farms.

“Improving our safety record on farm is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry, and it’s imperative that we recognise when we are putting ourselves at unnecessary risk and that we know how to minimise it.

“With more of our members hosting their own farm safety events in the New Year – sharing best practice and encouraging other farmers to do the same – we hope to see an improvement in our safety record as we head further into 2018.”

Agriculture is six times more dangerous than construction and 18 times higher than the average industry.

Thirty people were killed following accidents on UK farms from 2016 to 2017, according to annual statistics from the Health and Safety Executive involving cattle, overhead powerlines, moving vehicles and a workshop.

In April, a person died in Wiltshire whilst working in a workshop repairing farm equipment.

Two accidents occurred in Somerset - one involving a fall from height and the second involving moving machinery.

A person lost their life in Yorkshire following contact with an overhead powerline and a person was killed in a cattle related incident in Sussex in June.

image expired

In July, veteran dairy farmer Brian Swales was killed by his own cattle as he tended to them.

About 100 accidents resulting in medical treatment happen on Northern Ireland farms each month, the Farm Safety Partnership has said, six were fatal.

The Farm Safety Partnership is made up of government, industry and farming representatives.

Keith Morrison, the partnership's chairman, said it had been a tough year for those working to prevent farm accidents.

James Chapman MBE, ( pictured below)  who lost his arm in an accident while working with a power take-off shaft when he was 23, produced a Nuffield Scholarship report in July this year entitled “How farm safety can be improved”

image expired

In the report he said that farmers don’t always recognise risk to life in the same way other people do….that we have many pressures to deal with in farming, like time, finance and weather to name a few. As farmers we are very much multi-skilled. However, formal health and safety training isn’t one of the skills we possess, leading to a lack of understanding around the subject.His full report is on Nuffield's website  http://nuffieldinternational.org/live/

During the summer there was a lot of press and social media activity from the NFU and HSE’s Farm Safety Week, which went a long way towards raising awareness in the industry about safety and wellbeing.

A big task now is to continue that focus and keep the momentum on making real change going say the NFU.