New campaign putting safety first on the farm
Anew campaign has been launched to counter the dangers of working in the farming sector.
In the past 10 years, 388 farmers, their family members or farm workers have been killed on British farms – of which 38 were in Wales.
Thousands more have suffered serious injuries which still impact daily and changed lives forever.
And the Wales Farm Safety Partnership (WFSP), a collaboration between all the key organisations representing agriculture and allied industries in Wales, is determined to reduce these stubbornly high statistics by persuading farmers of all ages to attend a regional half-day workshop on general farm safety.
Part of an ongoing awareness programme, the first two events, which will be held from 1pm-4pm on May 17 at Coleg Glynllifon in Llandwrog and on May 18 at Gelli Aur, Coleg Sir Gar, will be delivered by Farming Connect.
They will each comprise a series of short, practical demonstrations or presentations covering topics including the safe handling of livestock; working safely at heights; operating all-terrain vehicles and farm machinery, including lift trucks and tractors; and the handling of dangerous chemicals.
FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “Our industry is known to be one of the most dangerous professions, which often sees farmers and farm workers working in solitude, challenging weather conditions and in stressful situations.
“Agriculture represents about 1.4% of the workforce across the UK but astonishingly accounts for up to 20% of all reported work-related fatalities in Great Britain. And even though we still have one of the lowest rates of workplace deaths in Europe, one death is still one too many and we don’t want to see our farmers become a farming fatality statistic.
“I would strongly urge our members to take up the opportunity to participate in one of these workshops, given that they deal with the areas that see the most accidents on farm.”
Eligible farmers registered with Farming Connect can undertake an e-learning module on farm health and safety, which is a prerequisite if you want to apply for machineryhandling courses.
■ For further information and to download a leaflet on farm safety, visit www.gov.wales/farmingconnect
■ Further information on all aspects of farm safety is available at www.hse/gov.uk/agriculture
■ Booking for a Saving lives and Livelihoods farm safety awareness event is essential, either online at www.gov.wales/farmingconnect or by calling the Farming Connect Service Centre on 08456 000 813.