Agriculture industry sees most work-related deaths in 2017

The agricultural industry has seen the most work-related deaths in Britain so far this year, according to new statistics.

The study, by First4Lawyers, analyses a decade of workplace death data to find out the deadliest industry to work in.

The study shows that a total of 1267 people have died while at work in the UK since 2008, with construction being the deadliest industry to work in.

However, agriculture has killed the most in Britain so far in 2017 - a total of 16 people.

The agricultural industry accounts for 269 deaths since 2008.

Andrew Cullwick, spokesperson for First4Lawyers, said: “Although we have seen a slight decrease in workplace deaths across all industries, we expected to see a lot less.

“It’s quite shocking to see that still to this day workplace accidents are turning into deaths, and construction remains the most dangerous industry, despite so many health and safety regulations being introduced.

“With working practices constantly being improved, there is no excuse for companies not obeying the law and fulfilling their business obligations.”

'Worrying'

Richard Wade, of Lycetts Risk Management Services, said the figures show it is "worrying" that agriculture remains one of the most dangerous industries, with the high fatality rate far-exceeding other industries.

He said: “HSE’s research shows that vehicle-related activities consistently lead to more deaths than any other category, and that half of the workers killed by something collapsing were taking part in activities involving vehicles and machinery.

“So, while some of these deaths have been the result of freak accidents, many could have been prevented. Although this is a sad fact, this gives us hope that, with better practice on farms and safer use of machinery, incidents like this could become rarer.

“It is also promising to see that, although the fatal injury rate for agriculture has shown no clear trend over the past 35 years, there are signs of improvement over the past five years.

“Hopefully this is down to farmers being more vigilant about safety and risk assessments – but we still have a way to go.”