A man in his early 20s has died on a County Down farm this week, adding a further statistic to a disastrous few weeks for farm safety.
The man, who has not been named, died on a farm in Katesbridge, Co. Down on Friday (4 May). Police said the incident happened on Kinallen Road at around 10:30am.
It is believed the man had been carrying out building work at the time.
The PSNI attended the scene of the incident, and confirmed they had “attended a sudden death at a farm”.
Farm safety procedures have been cast in the spotlight following the deaths of four farm workers in separate accidents within the space of just over two weeks.
The news follows the death of a 54-year-old man from Perth and Kinross who died after handling bags of fertliser on 29 April.
In the Western Isles of Scotland, 58-year-old farmer Hector McLeod was trampled to death by a herd of cows on the 24 April.
In Suffolk, a man in his 40s died following an accident on a potato farm in Bury St Edmunds on 17 April.
Agriculture remains the most dangerous profession in the UK – yet many of the fatalities and serious injuries reported each year can be easily avoided.
Figures from the HSE have revealed that in 2016/17, agriculture had the highest rate of fatal injury, around 18 times higher than the All Industry rate.
