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At a major summit in Oxford today, DEFRA Minister Lord Whitty and HSC Chair Bill Callaghan challenged stakeholders in the agriculture industry to join in a concerted effort to prevent agricultural accidents and ill-health, one of HSC's priority areas for improvement.

Bill Callaghan said:

"Further advancements in health and safety cannot be achieved by enforcement alone; we need the active commitment of everyone involved in agriculture, to influence the work practices of British farmers.

"Recognising that we need to work with and through others is going to be fundamental to the HSC's wider strategy up to 2010 and beyond.

"Last year there were 39 agricultural work-related deaths - each a personal tragedy for the people involved. Our mission is to help reduce the chances of such deaths, but this is not our responsibility alone - it is the responsibility of everyone in the workplace.

"Over a fifteen year period to 2000/1 the fatal incidence rate for employees in the agriculture sector halved. The really striking statistic, for me, however, is that the fatal rate for the self- employed doubled in that same period. And agriculture remains the major sector with the highest rates of ill-health and fatal injury. Clearly there has to be a focus on preventing accidents among the self-employed, at the same time as we maintain our efforts to reduce injuries to employees."

Lord Whitty told delegates:

"Partnership is a key theme of the government's strategy to develop a sustainable agricultural industry. That is why DEFRA and HSC are working closely together on farm health and safety matters. We have also used the opportunity presented by the development of the strategy to build farm health and safety management into a range of DEFRA policies. A safe and hygienic working environment is one of the key principles for sustainable farming and food. We are determined to tackle the poor health and safety record of the industry as it represents a threat to that sustainability."

At the summit, leaders of organisations with the potential to influence and incentivise farmers:

- learnt more about the main ways in which people lose their lives on
farms;

- heard about new strategies and approaches for tackling the
problems; and

- contributed ideas, support and commitment for future work towards
safer farming.

Bill Callaghan concluded:
"This conference marks the beginning of a collective stakeholder strategy to address the health and safety problems of the farming industry. We will be undertaking further work to map what ideas organisations can contribute, before identifying the most effective levers to bring about improvements; what barriers exist; what components are needed; and crucially, who is best placed to deliver the intervention."

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