DEATHS IN WALES AND ACROSS UK SEE FARMING AS INDUSTRY WITH BRITAIN’ S WORST SAFETY RECORD
FATAL accidents over the past year in Wales and the rest of the UK have confirmed farming as the industry with the poorest safety record in the British Isles.
In Wales, seven farm workers died in the 2020-2021 financial year.
Across England, Scotland and Wales, the total number of farm deaths was 41, comprising 34 farm workers and seven members of the public.
In Wales, a 45-year-old selfemployed farm partner was found trapped under his tractor. He was applying fertiliser with a tractor and spreader when he lost control on the slope and the tractor rolled, ejecting him from the cab. He was found crushed beneath the tractor with the engine still running.
A 63-year-old self-employed agricultural contractor was struck by an excavator bucket. He was installing a drainage system in a field. The excavator driver was depositing soil into the trench and when moving the bucket back to collect more soil hit the worker, killing him.
A 68-year-old self-employed farm partner was pinned against a wall by a skid steer loader. He was distributing straw in a pen that contained a newly born calf and its mother. The cow tried to get out of the pen, and to stop it escaping the driver of the loader attempted to block the exit. As the driver moved the loader, it struck the farmer and crushed him against a wall.
A 48-year-old self-employed contractor was killed when his quad bike overturned on a slope. He was going to do some spraying and had a pesticides tank attached to the rear of the quad bike. The quad overturned, trapping and crushing him underneath. He was not wearing a helmet.
A 57-year-old self-employed farmer and his 19-year-old son were attacked and killed by a bull water buffalo. The farmer entered a field to sort out a problem and was attacked and killed by the bull. His son tried to get him to safety but was also knocked to the ground and gored. He received fatal injuries and died later in hospital.
A 53-year-old self-employed farmer was found killed near a skid steer loader with the engine still running with an upturned water container nearby. He had died from crush injuries.
Lois Morgan, who runs a family sheep and cattle farm near Builth Wells, said her partner, Sam Morris, had a bad accident a few years ago when his quad bike toppled over and trapped him underneath when he tried to take a short cut on a gradient.
She said: “He dislocated his hip and needed surgery to put his femur back into its socket. He was in hospital for 16 days and out of action for four months.
“I’d advise anyone working on the land to be very careful with machinery and to take a bit more time.
“I know there’s a tendency to rush because there’s lots to be done, but it’s easy to get hurt badly or worse.
“I’d also advise people to carry their phone with them. Sam didn’t have his, and it’s fortunate that his grandad and a neighbour heard him shouting.”
In a recent survey, almost seven in 10 farmers identified tiredness as a major risk, with most having taken, or seen others take, risks due to being tired.
To mark the start of Farm Safety Week, the Health and Safety Executive has shared its annual Fatal Injuries in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing in Britain report, which reveals that over the past year almost twice as many people were killed on farms as in the previous year.
Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation, said: “Today’s report is a desperately disappointing read. The fact that farming has a fatality rate almost 20 times the British industry average is shocking and shameful.
“We have to redouble our efforts to drive a change.”
IT’S easy to take our farming industry for granted. We rely on it for our food and in many parts of Wales it provides jobs for many.
But it’s a tough occupation, and we tend to overlook the impact it can have on those who work in it. Farmers have one of the highest suicide rates and, as today’s report from the Health and Safety Executive shows, farming is the least safe industry in the British Isles.
One of the problems is that in many cases, those working on the land are self-employed and entirely responsible for their own safety. Those employed in other areas of activity share responsibility for safety with their employer.
Farmers work long hours and often they are working for relatively small rewards – but because they tend to be conscientious, they are liable to get tired.
It’s when they are suffering from fatigue that most accidents happen. The combination of heavy machinery, a tired farm worker and a desire to get the work done as soon as possible can easily become dangerous, and in the worst of scenarios, fatal.
The Farm Safety Foundation is doing what it can to highlight the need for greater safety on farms and deserves all the help and support it can get.
Farmers act in the important role as custodians of the land and so deserve not to have to bear such a responsibility alone.
Usually their own boss running a business which bears heavy responsibility not only in caring for lifestock, crops and land but also in terms of process and paperwork, they must make many judgements daily about what is safe and what could be problematic.
Sadly, the worst judgement calls are invariably taken when fatigue has set in.
There is an obvious need for public and private sectors to work within agriculture to try to alleviate any unnecessary pressures.
Farm workers also need to increase their self-awareness about when they are tired and make conscious decisions not to take risks or short cuts. Taking five minutes extra to perform a function rather than rushing to get it done and putting oneself at greater risk of having an accident is an easy piece of advice. It’s also too easy to ignore.
Farmers need to convince themselves that routine tasks they are able to perform with ease can in a split second take them into a highly dangerous situation if they lower their guard.
Anything that can be done to make safety imperative and so save lifes should be done.