Survey launched to understand attitude to farm safety

Agriculture has the poorest record of any industry in Britain
Agriculture has the poorest record of any industry in Britain

A new survey has been launched to understand current attitudes towards farm health and safety.

The NFU, AHDB and VetPartners are working together to help reduce the risk of accidents involving people working in the agricultural industry.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics show that in 2018/2019, 17,000 farm workers suffered from work-related ill health.

Around 13,000 experienced a non-fatal injury and there were 29 fatalities.

This is around 18 times higher than the all industry fatal injury rate.

Matt Dobbs, one of the key people leading the cross-sector collaborative approach, explains that health and safety affects everyone who sets foot on farm.

“Farms remain one of the most dangerous workplaces in the UK, with no long-term reduction in the number of accidents occurring,” he says.

“Farmers, family members, farm workers, vets, agronomists and members of the public using footpaths can all have their lives changed when things go wrong.”

“To change this, we need to understand current attitudes and ideas around health and safety, to help us develop tools, services and advice that will be useful in driving sustained improvements.”

The survey will be open until 24 December.