Work safely - NFU's message at Royal Welsh

Agriculture has the highest rate of fatal injuries of all industries in Great Britain. Latest figures say the number of workers killed in the industry last year was 39. The incidence rate of reported non-fatal injuries was almost 2,000 – again significantly higher than the average across all industries.

Ed Bailey at this year’s Royal Welsh show said, "This has got to stop! One death is too many. How many of us injure ourselves on farm, regularly – and that doesn’t even get reported?"

In a ground-breaking move NFU Cymru got together with invited representatives from across the Welsh farming industry at a summit earlier this year aimed at substantially improving farm safety. The organisations, including the FUW, HSE, Lantra, NFU Mutual, RABI, Wales YFC and Welsh Government met again last week to share information and get a co-ordinated and integrated approach to maximise effectiveness.

Mr Bailey said, "We are all agreed we have to raise the profile of farm safety in order to reduce the awful number of deaths and serious injuries we constantly hear about in the news. It was pleasing to hear that all of us will be featuring, in some way or other, safety as our theme during the Royal Welsh Show."

Staff from the Health and Safety Executive will be on hand throughout the Royal Welsh Show, on the NFU Cymru stand, to provide information and advice on farm safety. NFU Cymru will also focus on quad bike safety with Polaris dealers, Wilsons of Laugharne, kindly supplying a quad bike for the NFU Cymru stand at the event and a competition prize of a safety helmet. There will also be a touch screen farm safety quiz, provided by NFU Mutual, in the NFU Cymru main room.

Ed Bailey said, "This is not going to be a quick-fix campaign unfortunately. All organisations involved in the farm safety summit are agreed we are in this for the long term with a dogged determination to get farmers thinking of their safety – first and foremost."