Safety campaign will focus on farmers’ mental health issues

Farm Safety Week aims to cut number of deaths and injuries

This week’s nationwide farm safety campaign is to focus on mental health and wellbeing as well as physical safety, with the message that accidents are more likely to occur if farmers or crofters are not in the right frame of mind.

Farm Safety Week, which was launched in 2013 with the aim of reducing deaths and serious injuries in agriculture, is promoting the slogan: Your health. Your safety. Your choice.

It was launched in Scotland by the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP) with a case study in Aberdeenshire; an accident which left a cattle and sheep farmer unable to work at one of the busiest times of the year.

Ian Pirie, who farms around 1,000 cattle and 200 sheep with his family near Peterhead, is now reviewing and updating the cattle handling systems on his farm after being kicked while sorting through a pen of cattle.

He said: “It happened so quickly. I’ve had plenty of kicks by cattle over the last 50 years, so I didn’t think much of it.”

However, this kick left him with little to no power or control in his leg, and medical investigations showed tendons were all severed above his knee and required an operation.

He said: “If the surgery hadn’t been carried out at that stage my knee wouldn’t have worked properly again. It’s like broken cables, it’s not something that reconnects over time.”

Mr Pirie says he does not believe there is anything he could have done differently as working with livestock always has its dangers.

However, the message from the FSP is that the necessary safety equipment should be used and time taken to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the job.

The FSP comprises the Scottish Government, NFU Mutual, NFU Scotland and Health & Safety Executive.

Ian Pirie is reviewing and updating cattle handling.