Northumberland farm event could be a life saver
More than 100 farmers will meet at Lowick in North Northumberland next week for an event which could save their lives.
The Health and Safety Executive has invited landowners, farmers and farm workers to attend a morning or afternoon safety session at Hetton Steads Farm on Tuesday January 18.
HSE inspectors will take groups of farmers around the farm to demonstrate and talk about key aspects of safety, including working at height, transport and use of trailers, quad bikes and handling animals.
The agriculture sector has one of the highest rates of work-related illness and fatal injury. In 2003/04 30 people were killed in agricultural accidents across the country (the total figure of 51 included the 21 cockle pickers who tragically died at Morecambe Bay), of which 17 were self-employed, 6 employed and seven were members of the public.
The cost to farmers and farm workers of farm accidents in 2003/04 was estimated at £217.2 million, and trends show that traditional land-based agricultural, forestry and arboricultural activities still continue to cause high numbers of deaths.
Stephen Britton, an HSE agriculture inspector for the North East region said: "The event at Hetton Steads is the second of its kind; the previous one run in November was so popular we were oversubscribed. It's a great way for us to meet the farmers and discuss their safety concerns both in general terms and on an individual basis.
"The terrible annual death and injury toll - and the misery and hardship that follows for farming families - can potentially be avoided if people take sensible health and safety measures."
Ray Field, farm manager for Lilburn Estates Farming Partnership,
said: "As farmers we work extremely hard and are often under pressure to get jobs done to a tight deadline. But it's important to remember that when you work with high power machinery, often alone or in difficult weather conditions, safety shortcuts can kill. The HSE's reminder here at Hetton Steads could be a life saver."
