A CAMPAIGN has been launched to raise awareness about the dangers of working with farm vehicles.
Incidents involving moving vehicles have been responsible for 30% of all fatalities on farms over the past five years, with a total of 48 lives lost.
In Scotland alone 14 people have died in the past five years after being hit by moving vehicles on farms, more than in any other part of Britain.
Every year, hundreds more people are hurt in incidents involving moving vehicles on farms.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s workplace safety regulator, is calling on everyone in the farming community to do what they can to reduce the number of injuries involving vehicles and save lives.
This week it is launching a farm vehicle safety campaign and has created a website which advises agricultural workers on using vehicles safely on farms.
HSE said there are three pieces in the vehicle safety jigsaw: operating a safe farm, maintaining a safe vehicle, and being a safe driver.
Together, it says, these pieces will help to keep everyone on farms safer.
Sue Thompson, HSE’s head of agriculture policy, said: “We want to make 2023 a safer year on our farms by working together to prevent injuries and deaths.
“Agriculture consistently has the highest number of fatal and serious injuries of all industry sectors in Great Britain. Over the past five years, the average fatal incident rate is twenty-one times higher in agriculture than the average across all other industries. That is a shocking statistic.
“It’s time for us to make a change together to make our farms safer, and that’s why we’re asking farmers in England, Scotland, and Wales to consider three areas of their daily farming activities and take the right actions to prevent another farming tragedy.”
The campaign says that keeping vehicles and people apart is integral to safety and recommends clearly marking and separating routes.
It also calls on operators of vehicles to regularly check brakes, wear a seatbelt and ensure that everyone driving is properly trained.
Thompson added: “Farmers and farm workers should take a moment to think about what would happen to their families and their farms if they were seriously injured and unable to work.
“When people on farms start their daily routine, they should follow our safe farm, safe driver, safe vehicle advice to help plan the job and complete it safely.”
