Sep 12 2007
A farmer nearly fell through a roof this week while demonstrating the dangers of working at height.
The staged reconstruction was one of six scenarios shown to farmers at a safety workshop designed specifically for workers in the agriculture industry. These workshops are held annually in Yorkshire by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and they are delivered by LANTRA, agricultural training specialists. Today's workshop was held at the Great Yorkshire Showground in Harrogate.
It's clear that farming can be a very risky business. Agriculture has one of the worst fatal accident and occupational ill health records of any major employment sector. Despite representing only 1.7% of the workforce, the industry still accounts for 16 % of the fatal injuries to workers across the country. In 2006 to 2007 34 workers died as a result of accidents in agriculture. This figure included 2 deaths in Yorkshire For the first time locally, the invitation to this event has been extended to partners and other family members - whose influence can make a crucial difference to the approach to health and safety on the farm.
Attendees were split into groups shown six recreations of farming scenarios with high accident rates. The safety issues highlighted included working on fragile roofs, work at height, manual handling, safe use of handling and storage of chemicals, quad bike safety demonstrations and an explanation of helmet requirements, and a demonstration of the safe use and maintenance of lift trucks and other vehicles.
HSE Principal Inspector Keith King, who leads the Agriculture team said:
"Today's event has given farmers practical examples of how to run their farms safely. "We feel it's important to involve partners and other family members in the process as they can make a very positive difference to health and safety issues on the farm. Not only have they been able to meet and swap stories with others in the industry, those attending will be given a free pack that includes guidance from the HSE.
"The six demonstrations focus on the biggest causes of fatal accidents and ill health on farms. The safety day will help us to promote 'simple sensible solutions' to manage health and safety risks in agriculture and also educate farmers on health issues arising from poor practice in manual handling. Unfortunately, the evidence is plain for all to see: nearly every farmer who has attended these seminars in the past has admitted to experiencing some form of back pain, which can be very debilitating.
"The awareness days give us the opportunity to speak to a large number of farmers at one time and we are delighted with the high turnout. The large number of attendees from small family farms and who are self-employed is encouraging, as they often lack access to health and safety advice."
Now in their seventh year, scenario based safety days are extremely popular. National research has shown that these events are an effective way of informing farmers, with 94% of past attendees saying that it had raised their awareness and made them think again about risks that they had taken for granted.
Keith King continued:
"The LANTRA trainers are often farmers themselves and they understand the problems experienced by fellow-farmers - and there are HSE inspectors on hand to provide further advice. The demonstrations have been followed by lively Q & A sessions and I think that some valuable lessons have been learnt."