A North Yorkshire farmer had to be airlifted to hospital following a farm machinery accident where his legs became trapped in the equipment.
The man had to be be cut free from the farm machinery in Staxton on Saturday night (28 October) after his legs became trapped.
Fire crews from Scarborough, Filey and Malton attended the incident at just before 8pm.
The crews used hydraulic cutting equipment and small tools to release him from the machinery, he was then transported to Hull Royal Infirmary by Air Ambulance.
Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have revealed that in 2016/17, agriculture had the highest rate of fatal injury, around 18 times higher than the All Industry rate.
Poorly used or faulty vehicles and machinery are the biggest cause of death and injury on farms.
Farmers come into contact with a host of machinery daily – combines, choppers and hay balers which bring their own attendant dangers.
According to Martin Malone from the Farm Safety Partnership: “Machinery and transport continue to be the main causes of life changing and life ending injuries on farms.
“In fact 40 per cent of all farm workers who have lost their lives in agriculture over the past decade were workplace machinery-transport related.
“Whilst this year we have seen an improvement in the numbers of farmers losing their lives as a result of machinery and transport, the fact is that one death is one too many.”
