Plough Sunday worshippers make the promise

Date:

18 January 2010

Release No:

122/2010

At their annual Plough Sunday service in Kirkby Malzeard, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, parishioners of St. Andrew's church made the promise to come home safely from the fields during the year ahead (17 January)

Plough Sunday marks the start of the farming year and is an opportunity for farming communities to ask for God's blessing on the land and their work. During the service, a ploughshare is brought into the church to receive a blessing.

Rev. Robert Sellers blesses a ploughshare

This year, parishioners of St. Andrew's, led by Rev. Robert Sellers, also pledged their commitment to putting safety first, by supporting the Health and Safety Executive's 'Make the Promise' campaign, which aims to help bring down the number of deaths and serious injuries in one of the UK's most dangerous professions.

Rev. Sellers, Vicar of St Andrew's, said: "Kirkby Malzeard is a close knit, traditional farming community and as far as we are concerned any farming accident is one too many. Plough Sunday is when we all come together to ask for God's blessing on the land and is the ideal time for us all to remember the safety of ourselves, our families and our neighbours."

The congregation showed its support by wearing the campaign's 'Promise Knot' - a symbolic knot of baling twine - to act as a reminder of the pledge they have made to their community.

Parishioners of St. Andrew's show their support

Judith Donovan, HSE board member and local resident, said: The 'Make the Promise' campaign is designed to unite communities around the importance of coming home safely at the end of every farming day. This year, Kirkby Malzeard has joined together to 'Make the Promise to Come Home Safe' and I hope that the promise knot can act as a reminder of this in the busy months ahead."

Agriculture accounts for around one in five work-related deaths every year, even though only 1.5 per cent of the working population are employed in the sector.

Across Great Britain, 38 workers lost their lives in farming-related incidents between January and November 2009 (see Notes to editors) and recently finalized figures for 2008/09 show that 589 were seriously injured in farming accidents.

Notes to editors

1. From 1 January to 3 November 2009, there were 38 deaths as a result of farm incidents. This figure is sourced from HSE's operational database and therefore may be subject to modification. The most recent official figures, National Statistics published by HSE, were published by the Office for National Statistics and cover the 2008/09 period in which there were 26 fatalities in agriculture. For more information visit www.hse.gov.uk/statistics
2. HSE is working closely with the industry to help it reduce the number of work-related deaths and injuries. HSE produces health and safety guidance for farmers, organises free health and safety awareness days, provides information and advice through farm visits, by telephone and at agriculture shows. It also monitors the health and safety performance of the industry and, where necessary, takes enforcement action against employers who endanger lives

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