Technology to help cut deaths in agriculture

A WINDFALL of £10,000 will allow a farm safety charity to bring virtual reality to the classroom to help tackle the number of deaths in the agricultural industry.

The Yellow Wellies charity has been given the cash from the National Lottery Community Fund, and will introduce VR technology in its courses next year.

The agricultural industry has topped the list for work place fatalities in figures released by the HSE, and Yellow Wellies manager, Stephanie Berkeley, claimed education is the key to helping prevent further deaths. A total of 147 workplace deaths occurred during 2018/19, with 32 of the fatalities in the farming industry.

“Vocational training will really begin to feel the impact of virtual and augmented reality over the next few years,” Ms Berkeley said.

“We are delighted to be pioneering this for the next generation and wanted to challenge the assumption that health and safety training is boring.

“Having the ability to experience any training in 360 degrees is invaluable and memorable, so to deliver training that may actually save lives and limbs in the future makes it even more important.

“For a generation raised on interactive technologies, bringing VR into learning can help encourage active engagement and contribute to delivering the farm safety message which is something we take very seriously.”

Since 2015, Yellow Wellies, which was set up by NFU Mutual, has delivered safety training courses to more than 10,000 agricultural students and young farmers at colleges, including Bishop Burton and Askham Bryan in Yorkshire.