HSE WARNS OF NEEDLESS DEATHS ON WELSH FARMS

HSE press release - E137:03 - 22 July 2003

The Welsh agricultural industry, sadly, claimed four lives last year - including sadly a 12 year old boy in Penymynydd, Anglesey, who became entangled on an unguarded power take-off shaft on his father's farm.

The other fatal accidents involved:

• 67-year-old self-employed farmer being crushed between the mast of a forklift truck and a fertiliser spreader in Pembrokeshire;
• 30-year old self-employed contractor, from Llangollen, Denbighshire, who was trapped between the end of a loader and its descending boom;
• 51-year-old employed as a casual farm worker near Pwllheli, who was killed whilst feeding sheep when his head was crushed against the side of a trailer.

Linda Williams, Chief Agricultural inspector, said: "I am very concerned about these deaths on Welsh farms, because they involved known risks and could all could have been avoided. The last thing any inspector wants is to visit farms under these tragic circumstances - my message is clear to Welsh farmers, please work with us to make it a safer industry.

HSE plan to hold two Safety Awareness Days - one in Usk, Gwent, and the other in Newtown, Powys. These are targeted at the self-employed and family farms and demonstrate common health and safety risks and solutions. These have proved popular because they address the practical work routinely carried out in agriculture. If farmers are invited they should make every possible effort to attend."

"We Inspectors will also continue with their carry out planned inspections on Welsh farms, concentrating on hazards that cause the most accidents. These are transport, falls from height, child safety and musculoskeletal disorders, such as bad backs.

These have been identified in HSE's Agriculture Priority Programme as areas which cause most accidents".

Commenting on HSE's campaign to reduce agricultural related death, Terry Rose HSE's Director Wales, explained: "We are carrying out a range of projects to determine how best we can work with intermediaries, such as Farming Connect, farming unions and farm assurance schemes to get the health and safety message across to farmers, particularly the self-employed.

"We are also working with the Welsh Assembly to improve the availability of health & safety advice in Welsh as well as English. Inspectors are also working with two agricultural colleges in Powys and Glynllifon, building on the excellent work colleges are already doing with their students on health & safety. Our combined experience has helped develop workshops to train students in the skill of risk assessment and encourage them to carry out risk assessment on their family farms."

Terry Rose continued "As a priority we will raise child safety on our visits to farms so that no Welsh farmer has to deal with the trauma of losing a child on a farm. Sadly this year a farmer in Penymyndd lost his 12-year-old son. Children who live on farms feel secure because they know the environment. Children and their parents/guardians need to understand the risks on farms and how to avoid them."

Linda Williams continued, "Early indications show that our programme of safety awareness days and our publicity campaigns on falls from height and child safety are having an effect. I appeal to farming families to work with HSE to reduce the number of deaths in agriculture by following three simple steps:

• Check out guidance on our website: - http://www.hse.gov.uk
• Above all put health and safety advice into practice!

Single copies of 'Fatal injuries in farming, forestry and horticulture 2002/2003' are available free from the Health & Safety Executive, Agriculture & Food Sector, National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ.

SUMMARY OF FATAL ACCIDENTS IN WALES
1 APRIL 2002 - 31 MARCH 2003

• A 67-year-old self-employed farmer was crushed between the mast of a forklift truck and a fertilizer spreader whilst emptying bags of fertilizer from the raised forks of the FLT into a hopper. He was leaning over the rear of the hopper to cut the bags. As the contents of the bag emptied, the FLT moved forward crushing him between the mast and the rear edge of the hopper.
• A 30-year-old self-employed contractor was found trapped between the end of a loader and its boom. It appears that he had raised the loader grab to gain access to the cab of the machine. He then stood under the unsupported grab to carry out repair work in the cab. He either accidentally operated the foot hydraulic control causing the boom to descend or it sustained an uncovenanted, unpowered descent. The machine was provided with cab operated boom supports but these were not fitted.
• A12-year-old child suffered multiple fatal injuries when he became entangled on an unguarded PTO shaft connecting a tractor to a roller mill. It appears that he approached or was in the vicinity of roller milling machine whilst the machine was being operated and became entangled on the power input connection stub on the PTO drive shaft.
• A 51- year-old employee was killed when his head was crushed against the side of a trailer whilst feeding sheep from the back of trailer, towed by a tractor. The tractor drove over the unprotected edge of a gravel pit in the field and as the trailer landed it crushed his head.