HSE relaunches its latest safety campaign:
Your Farm. Your Future.
Agriculture is one of the UK’s most high-risk industries, with the latest figures showing that 27 people were killed as a result of farming and other agriculture-related activities during 2022/23.
HSE's latest campaign highlights advice for working safely with livestock, as well as simple vehicle safety tips, to help keep everyone on the farm safe.
In the most recent farming statistics published by HSE, injuries from livestock is noted as the most common cause of death on UK farms. HSE is asking farmers to consider the following important areas to ensure they work safely and prevent injuries.
Working Safely with Livestock
- ‘The handler’ should be trained and supervised until competent; be agile and in good health. Handling tasks should be planned in advance and incorporate safe ways of working
- ‘The equipment’ such as the crush, race, calving pens, yokes, gates etc should be suitable for the tasks carried out and be arranged and used so that people and cattle are kept apart as much as possible. Equipment should also be well maintained and work properly – all the time
- ‘The animal’ should be handled with respect. Bulls can be territorial and cows with calves can be very protective of their young. Consider having bulls ringed at about 10 months, and always use handling aids when moving them. Stock bulls should be kept in purpose made bull pens which meet specific requirements. Farmers should consider culling animals that are habitually aggressive or difficult to handle
Working Safely with Farm Vehicles
Incidents involving moving vehicles remain the top cause of deaths on UK farms over the last 5 years. HSE is asking farmers to consider vehicle safety in these simple areas of their daily farming activities.
- Operate a safe farm - keep people and vehicles apart as far as possible
- Be a safe driver - vehicle operators must be trained and competent
- Maintain a safe vehicle - vehicles must be well maintained and should be checked before use by the operator to make sure that they are safe
HSE have published lots of useful resources and videos, which can be found on the campaign website page: https://workright.campaign.gov.uk/campaigns/agriculture/
