NEW figures reveal seven people were killed on farms in the South West in just 12 months – the highest death rate in the agricultural sector in Britain.

Research from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) shows that in 2016/17, agriculture had the highest rate of fatal injury, around 18 times higher than in other industries.

In total, 30 people have been killed on British farms in the past year – making agriculture the riskiest industry to work in.

The main causes of death were ‘struck by vehicles’ (30 per cent), ‘trapped by something collapsing’ (20 per cent), ‘struck by an object’ (17 per cent), ‘contact with electricity’ (10 per cent), ‘falling from a height’ (7 per cent), and ‘injured by an animal’ (7 per cent).

William McCarter, of farm insurance specialist Lycetts, said: “It is worrying that agriculture remains one of the most dangerous industries, with the high fatality rate far-exceeding other industries.

“HSE’s research shows that vehicle-related activities consistently lead to more deaths than any other category, and that half of the workers killed by something collapsing were taking part in activities involving vehicles and machinery.

“So, while some of these deaths have been the result of freak accidents, many could have been prevented.  Although this is a sad fact, this gives us hope that, with better practice on farms and safer use of machinery, incidents like this could become rarer.

“It is also promising to see that, although the fatal injury rate for agriculture has shown no clear trend over the past 35 years, there are signs of improvement over the past five years. 

“Hopefully this is down to farmers being more vigilant about safety and risk assessments – but we still have a way to go.”

Agriculture has a 7.61 fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers – six times that of the construction sector.

In the South West, there have been seven deaths in the past year – the highest death rate in the  agricultural sector in Britain. 

The deaths include a 49-year-old self-employed contractor, who was killed by a falling hay bale.  He was helping to sheet stacked bales.  As he bent over to adjust the sheeting, a bale from the top layer of the stack fell and crushed him.

A 78-year-old self-employed farmer was killed when he fell off a roof.  He was carrying out renovation and repair work and fell off the roof edge.  There was no guard rail and the ladder hadn’t been secured to stop it moving.

A 66-year-old self-employed farmer was killed unblocking an auger in a grain silo.  He sank under free-flowing grain and was asphyxiated.

William added: “What strikes me is the high death rate of older workers.  Health and safety is a fundamental requirement of any farming operation, no matter how small or well-established it is, and minimising risk should be top priority. 

 “It is also alarming that self-employed farmers make up a large proportion of deaths; 67 per cent - 20 out of 30 – of those who died on farms were self-employed, whilst 23 per cent were employees and 10 per cent were members of the public.

“There is a danger that farmers who work for themselves harbour a perception that they do not need to carry out the necessary risk assessments or abide by the health and safety regulations, as they don’t have any employees.  But, as this research shows, this can have devastating consequences.

“It may also be a case of farmers, due to economic constraints, are having to manage difficult and labour-heavy jobs by themselves or with limited resources – and are therefore putting themselves at increased risk.

“It is imperative that farmers take health and safety seriously and do their utmost to protect themselves, their employees and the public.”

For information on keeping your farm safe, visit hse.gov.uk/agriculture.