Agriculture has one of the worst fatal accident and occupational ill-health records of any major employment sector.
Fewer than 1.5% of the working population are employed in agriculture yet the sector is responsible for between 15% and 20% of fatalities to workers each year. The industry also has a rate of self-reported illness which is typically higher than the average for all industries.
The fatal injury incidence rate is the highest of the main industrial sectors, including construction. In 2010/11(p), there were 42 fatalities reported, which is consistent with the agriculture average over the past five years.
The provisional fatal injury rate in agriculture for 2010/11 was 8.0 deaths per 100,000 workers. This compares to a rate of 9.6 when an average of the previous five years is examined – the highest of any industrial sector. Included in the definition of agriculture is horticulture, forestry and other related industries. In mainstream agriculture the area for particular concern is the self-employed.
In the ten-year period from 1999/2000 to 2008/09 a total of 436 people have been killed as a result of agricultural work activities and many more have been injured or suffered ill health.
This means an average of 43 people each year are killed in the industry – almost one death per week!
For more details on fatal and non-fatal accidents in the industry see the latest version of the 'Fatal Injuries in farming, forestry and horticulture' report.
Non-fatal injury data is subject to gross under-reporting, making analysis of data and comparisons difficult – it is estimated that 25% of injuries to employees in the sector are reported and only 5% for the self-employed.
Despite the limitations in the data, the rate of reported major injury in agriculture is one of the highest rates of the industry sectors. In 2009/10, there were 242.1 major injuries per 100,000 employees in agriculture compared to 203.1 in 2008/091. This rate is twice that of the all-industries rate (101.5 per 100,000) and similar to the construction sector major injury rates.
The data available on the industry’s occupational health record suggests that the incidence of work-related illness is of a similar order to that for all industries. Although the data is again obscured by under-reporting, the ill-health conditions to which workers are exposed include:
Farming is characterised by a high proportion of self-employment and largely family-based farms. Employment data is neither robust nor reliable, but approximately 500,000 people are estimated to be employed in traditional farming and up to 250,000 in the wider land-based industry sectors.
The self-employed proportion of the workforce has steadily increased as overall workforce numbers have declined. The industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly micro businesses, with few formal management structures.
The analysis of fatal accidents in the agriculture sector over the period 1999–20092 showed that 56% of total fatal accidents occurred to self-employed workers. Of these, 22% occurred to those aged 65 or above, reflecting a characteristic of the sector where those over 65 continue to work or remain involved in the running of farms. There is also a continuing high rate of fatal accidents involving members of the public compared with other sectors.
Major difficulties remain if sustainable health and safety improvements are to be achieved in agriculture.
Fatal incidents, non-fatal injuries and ill health occur in the industry for a range of reasons, including:
There are no simple solutions to these complex issues. Significant changes in individuals' behaviour - supported by fundamental cultural change in the industry as a whole - are required.
