Experts: Women farmers are risking serious injury and death to prove they’re as good as men
Study claims competitive culture putting lives in danger
Women farmers are risking serious injury or even death trying to prove they are as good as male colleagues, according to research.
A Scottish Government study has found female farmers are putting themselves in danger at work.
One in five of all workplace deaths occur on farms, making agriculture the most dangerous industry in Britain – with 32 deaths each year on average in farming.
Those include eight deaths in Scotland, making agriculture four times more dangerous than the construction industry.
Most were through injuries caused by heavy machinery, and while most victims are men, four women have died in farming, fishing and forestry in the past five years.
Professor Sally Shortall, chair of rural affairs at Newcastle University, led the research and said: “Women are taking risks with farm safety to ‘prove’ their farming identity.
“Men who had accidents talked about being ‘ in the zone’ and not thinking about it.
“Women talk about using it as a way of proving themselves.”
She voiced concern about the “remarkably lax” regulation of agriculture by council planners and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) given the industry’s record.
She questioned why farmyards did not need standard council planning permission for developments such as milking parlours, and why “normal” health and safety regulations were often not enforced.
One woman farmer told researchers about a “big” accident when she almost toppled into a large bin while helping her partner load winter barley into it from a combine harvester.
The report said: “She was consciously trying to prove her authenticity as a farmer.” Shepherd Emma Gray broke her back in a quad bike accident while gathering sheep on her family’s Borders farm in 2012.
Now 32, she said: “I went over on a steep edge after I lost momentum and the bike slid back, caught on a stone and rolled on top of me. I could have been paralysed.
“I was just careless. Farming has created a culture of, ‘It will be all right’ because time and time again you get away with the things you risk.
“There’s a lot of lone working and you’ d probably never ask an employee to do the stuff you do but there’s always a little voice at the back of your head saying, ‘ You could do it a bit quicker if you did that’.”
However, Emma, who now farms in Northumberland, does not believe women are taking risks to prove themselves equal to men.
She suggested more women may be having accidents as growing numbers of female farmers have joined the industry.
The joint study with Scotland’s James Hutton Institute was commissioned by the Scottish Government to help improve policy as more women work on farms.
The HSE is meeting Scottish ministers this week at the start of the National Farmers’ Union Scotland’s annual Farm Safety Week to discuss the issues. It said health and safety laws applied equally on farms where “most” deaths would be avoided if farmers complied with legislation. NFU Scotland agreed safety measures were “imperative” to reducing accidents, urging farmers to avoid “rushing the job” and working alone.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As part of the Women in Agriculture Taskforce, we are working with Aberdeen University and the Health and Safety Executive around examining farm safety attitudes, and implementing a farm safety workplan.
“Working on farms can be a dangerous business and as part of Farm Safety Week we’re asking everyone who works on farms to take and keep taking the necessary steps to stay safe while working.”
The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities declined to comment.
Women are taking risks to prove identity