Five killed on Welsh farms last year

HSE Press Release E145:02 - 23 July 2002

Five people including a two-year-old child were killed in agricultural accidents in Wales last year, according to statistics released today by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Commenting on the figures, Linda Williams, HSE's Chief Inspector of Agriculture, said:

"We must do more to reduce the number of deaths in Welsh farming. Each of these accidents was a tragedy for the victim and their families."

Three self-employed farmers, an employee and a two-year-old child were killed on Welsh farms in 2001/02. The child, the youngest person to be killed in an agricultural accident in Britain last year, was run over by a telescopic handler on his father's farm.

All five deaths involved mobile farm machinery. One person was killed by a tractor overturning, one death was caused by a defective hand brake which resulted in the driver being run over, one person was run over by a telescopic handler, one entangled on an inadequately guarded PTO shaft on a slurry tanker and one crushed under a trailer body while removing the ram for maintenance.

Mrs Williams added:

"The increasing trend in transport accidents is mirrored across Great Britain. We are determined to help the agricultural industry tackle this problem. Many injuries result each year from failure to take the most elementary of precautions including basic maintenance to brakes, steering and mirrors."

"The majority of fatalities in Wales involved older, more experienced workers. Three were self-employed farmers between 48 and 71 years of age. My message to everyone in the industries and, in particular, to the self-employed is clear: do not be complacent about your health and safety. All too often it is lack of awareness of hazards and a flagrant disregard of the risks involved that results in needless deaths in farming."

Mrs Williams continued:

"In the coming year HSE inspectors in Wales will be targeting transport, child safety, falls from height and musculoskeletal disorders in their visits to farms and forestry. Inspectors will be looking very closely at the training of ATV, rough terrain and FLT drivers - too often this is non-existent."

"The lack of training and maintenance has caused many tractors to overturn on slopes and claim lives. Neglecting maintenance to save costs - carrying it out in-house or even postponing it to a later date - has resulted in devastating consequences."

"We will also continue to run our highly successful Safety Awareness Days for the self-employed and small farmers. These highlight common health and safety problems and give practical solutions. Farmers are shown how to carry out tasks safely and made aware of the hazards that are most likely to kill or injure them. One of these events is planned in September at the Anglesey Showground and another at Brecon Cattle Mart in February 2003."

"In addition we will continue to work with the Welsh Assembly, through Farming Connect and with others to improve health and safety on farms, but ultimately the responsibility lies with farmers themselves to make sure it is not them, their employees or their family members who are killed or seriously injured."

Farming Connect is a one-stop shop for farmers providing advice on all aspects of their business. Thirty demonstrations on farms are planned across Wales to help with the transfer of new technologies and information. HSE is working with Farming Connect to ensure that these events promote positive health and safety messages.

Note to Editors:

1. Details of all the fatalities in the agricultural sector in Great Britain are in 'Fatal injuries in farming, forestry and horticulture 2001/2002'.

2. Details of Welsh deaths in the agricultural sector 2001/2002

48 years - self employed farmer

He received crush injuries when trapped underneath a tractor driven power harrow with a rear coil roller. It appears he left the engine running and got out of the tractor cab to clear some clods from the roller. The tractor was parked on a slight slope and the hand brake, which was later found to be defective - had not been properly applied. As he stood with one foot either side of the roller, the tractor moved forward and he was pulled under the roller. He was trapped for over six hours and died the next day in hospital from multiple crush injuries.

71 years - self-employed farmer

He was crushed by the descending body of a tipper trailer while trying to remove the hydraulic ram. He had used some timber and a fence post to prop up the trailer body while he removed the ram, which he had intended taking to a local dealer to buy a replacement. He had disconnected the oil line thereby relieving the hydraulic pressure. As he stood between the chassis and the tipper, the props moved causing the trailer body to descend and crush him.

32 years - employee

He was killed when his tractor overturned while muck spreading on sloping ground. He was working on part of the field that had been spread with muck earlier in the day. There was evidence that he had lost control while driving up the slope, before regaining control and then losing it again at the top of the slope. The tractor then slid down the slope at an angle before overturning into a small ravine. He either jumped or was thrown from the cab and sustained fatal injuries.

63 years - self employed farmer

He suffered fatal injuries when he became entangled on a PTO shaft that had not been fully guarded. He had been using a tractor and slurry vacuum tanker to empty a blocked and overflowing septic tank. When he failed to return, members of his family went to look for him and found him lying on the ground between the tanker and the tractor with some of his clothes still wrapped around the rotating PTO shaft.

2 years - child (family member)

The boy was run over by a telescopic materials handler on his father's farm. The farmer's own tractor would not start so he called a neighbouring farmer for assistance. The neighbour arrived with his materials handler and began to move some silage bales from one part of the farm to another. The farmer was in the yard cutting bale strings and removing plastic wrapping from the bales. His son was with him. As the handler was driven down a narrow gap between the farm buildings the child ran out from behind a blind corner and was run over by the right rear wheel.

3. Injuries in Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing in Wales as reported to HSE 1992/1993 to 2001/2002

* Provisional data

Note: Data from 1996/97 use the new definitions in the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995 which extended the qualifying criteria for major injuries and alter the requirements for reporting injuries to members of the public.

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