Food for thought as farmers receive safety advice

More than 40 farmers attended a health and safety awareness day organised by NFU Cymru Welshpool.

The number of people who have died in needless accidents on British farms in the last 10 years is 455, according to the Health & Safety Executive. The majority of these accidents could have been avoided or reduced if preventive measures had been taken.

Steve Kenyon, group secretary at Welshpool NFU Cymru office, said, "There is a lot of interest in safety issues as witnessed by the large number local farmers who attended the awareness day. It’s clear that farmers are looking to reduce risks on their own farms. We are keen to provide any help we can to our members as there are lots of rules and regulations to deal with."

Farmers attending the event at Colin & Joan Trow’s Great Hem Farm, Forden, Welshpool, heard that some of the UK’s most common agricultural accidents involved transport and machinery maintenance, working at height and manual handling. In addition to the alarming number of fatalities, there were almost 1,500 injuries annually to farmers and their employees.