The figures show that almost as many people have been killed in on-farm accidents during the first six months of this year than during the whole of last year. Excluding the 21 migrant workers who lost their lives at Morcambe Bay, there were 30 fatal accidents in farming during 2003/04.

Dr Roger Nourish, Head of HSE’s Agriculture and Food Sector, stressed that HSE were still investigating the exact causes but it did appear that a factor might have been the poor harvest conditions seen in August and September, "I think that what has happened in lots of parts of the country was that the window of opportunity was very limited. When the weather did abate, people were under pressure, and that’s when they become vulnerable. It is at that point they cut corners because they are rushing around and are tired and stressed."

Dr Nourish said he wanted to urge farmers, even when they were under pressure, to give a little more thought to safety issues, “The tragedy of this is that nearly all these accidents were avoidable. Time and time again it is the same things we see."

Breakdown of six month farm fatal injuries

Of the 29 people killed; 16 were self employed, 11 were employees and 2 were either family members or friends assisting in a works activity.

Fatal accidents by cause

 

Fatal accidents by age of deceased

Fatal accidents by location

Location	Number
Wales	2
South West	2
East and South East	7
Midlands	5
Yorkshire and North East	3
North West	5
Scotland	5
Total	29