Tragic farm safety record must change

This week is Farm Safety Week (22-26 July) and I’ve been working with the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health ( IOSH ) as a member of IOSH Rural Industries Group , to author a series of three blogs that reflects on my industry’s poor health and safety record and consider what needs to be done to lose its unwanted ‘most dangerous’ tag.

My insights are based on my 50 years trying to make farms safer and healthier places to work, notably 32 years with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as an inspector, developing policy and leading on agricultural safety. I worked on farms in my youth and managed Government-sponsored research after studying agriculture and agricultural engineering before joining HSE. Since leaving HSE in 2011, I’ve run a farmers’ training group and been a consultant/trainer, so I’ve seen it from all angles.

Furthermore, I’ve organised many events to share good practice and received awards for promoting collaboration within the industry, not least the accolade of ‘Farm Safety Hero’ from the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) during last year’s Farm Safety Week.

HSE's latest figures indicate 34 people were killed on farms in Great Britain between April 2023 and March 2024 (that’s seven more than in 2022/23). When I was a lad in the 1950s, around 150 people were killed each year on farms in Britain, many being children. The worst annual recorded figure was 183 and the lowest was 21 (in 2019/20), with the average now around 30. So, on the face of it, a lot better.

Yet these statistics are deceiving, because the number of agricultural workers has reduced markedly too. Consequently, the fatal incidence rate (ie deaths per 100,000 workers) has flat-lined at around 10 for the past four decades – that’s around 20 times the all-industry average and currently six [often 8 to 10] times the rate for construction. Farm deaths still account for around 20 percent of all workplace fatalities, despite employing just 1 percent of the working population. This cannot be ’acceptable’ and, unless there is significant and sustainable change, this will continue.

A low point came in May last year, when 11 people were killed in England and Scotland alone - the worst month in 15 years. With the pressure on farmers to ‘get things done’ after months of adverse weather it is a spike that could easily be repeated.

Tragically, children are still being killed (three children aged under two last year). The first fatality I dealt with as a trainee Agricultural Inspector in 1979 was a 2-year-old crushed in a potato field and the last I investigated personally as a Principal Inspector was a 7-year-old who drowned in grain. Regrettably, her father removed the pit’s mesh grid required by an Improvement Notice. I saw first-hand how such tragedies deeply affect farming families and livelihoods.

Farming is also unique in killing the highest proportion of older workers (45-plus) - around 80% of the total, many of whom would have been long-retired in other industries. The outcome of many incidents is also exacerbated by working remotely and alone, combined with fatigue due to working long hours.

Transport, falls, or being struck by falling objects, machinery or livestock continue to cause most deaths, but rates of injuries and ill health are also comparably high, and known to be greatly under-reported. Musculoskeletal (MSD) injuries, exposure to dusts and respiratory sensitisers, zoonoses, noise and vibration are prevalent, but mental health is now very much a part of that list, given the high level of stress and suicides in the industry.

Yet, despite these dreadful statistics continuing, HSE recently announced it will not be carrying out any ‘preventive’ (unannounced) inspections on farms. HSE is also reorganising to deliver its Strategy (for 2022-32), with its increased focus on health. This may result in even less support for agriculture within the sector.

Role of intermediaries

HSE is therefore now expecting industry organisations and intermediaries to show leadership. Although national Farm Safety Partnerships (FSPs) were established more than a decade ago, they have had little impact. I represented IOSH on the original FSP (England) Board for several years and (through IOSH) organised a series of well-supported events, with practical demonstrations sharing the latest research, advice and good practice. Useful guidance and campaigns were produced such as ‘Safe Stop’, supported by FSP members. These represent a broad spectrum of agricultural interests, including farmers, contractors, machinery manufacturers and dealers and, allied industries, as well as trainers, consultants and the media, but it has been ‘quiet’ lately. More on the other FSPs in a future blog.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) and other industry bodies have urged HSE to rethink its ‘non-interventionist’ policy, fearing its absence will compromise the safety of farmers and workers, as well as those living on or visiting farms. Although HSE has vowed to continue investigating serious incidents on farms, the NFU argues that “the lack of any regular inspections, training and events leaves a notable gap in proactive and preventative safety measures that could prevent accidents and save lives”. It is also hard to disagree with the comments of a previous FSP Chair: “Whilst we understand HSE’s financial constraints, it beggars belief that this is the right time to withdraw from their inspection regime and their proactive farm visits and training days”.

We all want HSE to continue to work collaboratively with farmers to help ensure they are compliant, but what can HSE realistically ‘deliver’ in the face of budget cuts, less staff and other new challenges? The industry must accept why HSE - after decades of (seemingly ineffective) inspection, enforcement and publicity campaigns - believes that the industry must now take ownership of its appalling health and safety record and the FSPs and member organisations must play their part in trying to change attitudes and behaviours from within.

Unfortunately, I am mindful that in 2018, England’s FSP tried to do this by setting an ambitious target to halve fatalities by 2023. As we can see from the latest statistics, the industry failed miserably. More on this in my next blog for Farm Safety Week, to be posted here on Wednesday 24 July.

Alan Plom – IOSH Rural Industries Group member