Last updated 13:07, Friday, 02 January 2009

A CAMPAIGN to prevent deaths on farms launches today – highlighting farming as one of the most dangerous ways to make a living in Britain.
“Make the promise. Come Home Safe” is a hard-hitting campaign from the Health and Safety Executive, targeting farmers and their families, including grandparents and children, with the individual stories behind the statistics and the devastation caused to bereaved families.
In the North West there were four fatal incidents in 2007/08, 159 serious injuries and 1,344 minor injuries, which are estimated to have cost the industry £23.7m.
During January 2009, HSE will be sending “Promise Packs” to around 70,000 British farmers. The pack contains all they need to make their promise to come home safe.
It includes a Promise Knot, a symbolic knot of farm baling twine,which can be used as a visual reminder of the pledge to come home safe, as well as a poster outlining detailed information.
Farmers can send in a form contained within the pack or call 0800 141 2805 to request a new booklet, How lives are lost on British farms.
Judith Donovan, non-executive HSE Board member and agriculture champion, said: “HSE is mounting this campaign because on average more than 45 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.”
In 2007/2008, there were 42 deaths on farms. Less than 1.5 per cent of the working population is employed in agriculture, yet the sector is responsible for between 15 per cent and 20 per cent of fatalities to workers each year. Two-thirds (64 per cent) of all deaths in farming are self-employed farmers. Within this group, older farmers are the most at risk, accounting for over half (53 per cent) of the deaths to the self-employed. The three main causes of deaths to agriculture workers in the past 10 years were:
Transport – 24 per cent
Falls from height, especially roofs – 17 per cent
Being struck by moving or falling objects – 15 per cent.