Health

Farmers: ‘Come home safe’ new campaign launched

by Paul Conneally | January 1, 2009 at 11:09 pm

290 views | 34 Recommendations | 5 comments

Farmers are only 1.5% of the British workforce but make up between 15 and 20 per cent of all deaths at work. Now a new hard hitting campaign is being launched to encourage farmers to take safety more seriously.

The campaign has the slogan ‘Make the promise. Come home safe’ and is being led by the Government's Health and Safety Executive with full support from the National Farmers Union (NFU).

The main causes of deaths on farms are transport at 24% with many of these being tractor based accidents and 'falls from height; at 17%.

Farmers also have a high rate of suicide compared with other workers and with the economic downturn affecting already precarious farm profits consideration to the emotional and mental wellbeing of farmers may need more attention.

The problem of rural suicides is not just a British problem and has reached epidemic size in India where the Government has introduced new measures to combat a wave of farming suicides.

In 2007/2008, farming accounted for between 15 and 20 per cent of all fatalities to workers, despite agriculture employing just 1.5 per cent of the national workforce.

Judith Donovan, non-executive HSE Board member said: "HSE is mounting this campaign because on average over forty-five deaths, year after year, occur on British farms.

“We would like to highlight that this is a partnership to keep farmers safe, not HSE dictating the terms."

NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren welcomed the campaign, who said fatal farm accidents happened ‘too frequently’ and something had to be done to prevent them.

Samaritans.

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend Sign In or Join to post comments

Uwe Paschen

at 23:27 on January 1st, 2009

Farming due to its long working hours and versatile work as well as the fact that most Farmers work alone most of the time has always been prone to high number of accidents and Suicides as well. The Highest in both cases among all trades.