The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Warning to farm workers over the need for safety
Incidents: Latest study by HSE shows agriculture remains the riskiest industry
Farmers have been warned to be vigilant after new statistics show five people were killed on farms in Scotland in just 12 months.
Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have revealed that in 2016/17, agriculture had the highest rate of fatal injury of any industry, around 18 times higher than the all-industry rate.
In total, 30 people have been killed on British farms in the past year – making agriculture the riskiest industry to work in.
The main causes of death were struck by vehicles, trapped by something collapsing, struck by an object, contact with electricity, falling from a height, and injured by an animal.
William Barne, of Edinburgh-based farm insurance specialist Lycetts, appealed to farmers to take care.
“HSE’S research shows that vehicle-related activities consistently lead to more deaths than any other category, and that half of the workers killed by something collapsing were taking part in activities involving vehicles and machinery,” he said.
“So, while some of these deaths have been the result of freak accidents, many could have been prevented.
“Although this is a sad fact, this gives us hope that, with better practice on farms and safer use of machinery, incidents like this could become rarer.”
Agriculture has a 7.61 fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers – six times that of the construction sector.
In one of the Scottish incidents, a 69-year-old self-employed farmer was killed by a cow after trying to escape from an enclosure when the cow became agitated.
A 58-year-old self-employed forestry contractor was killed when felling a tree and a three-year-old child was killed when run over by a reversing telehandler driven by his father.
Mr Barne said there was a danger that farmers who work for themselves harboured a perception that they do not need to carry out the necessary risk assessments or abide by the health and safety regulations because they did not have employees.
He added: “It is imperative that farmers take health and safety seriously and do their utmost to protect themselves, their employees and the public, as well as procuring comprehensive insurance cover in case a tragic incident like this does occur.”