Event to help reduce death and injury on Bedfordshire farms

Date:

3 February 2011

Release No:

HSE-e-03-11

Around 250 farmers from across Bedfordshire will be attending a free event on Tuesday 8 February aimed at helping reduce the number of deaths and injuries in agriculture.

The Safety and Health Awareness Day (SHAD) will be run by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) at Milton Park, Milton Ernest, in Bedfordshire.

Qualified instructors will give practical demonstrations based on the most common accident scenarios such as those involving falls from height, transport and machinery blockages, and giving guidance on how to prevent them.

Farmers will be able to take away information packs and will have the opportunity to ask HSE inspectors and the instructors - many of whom are farmers themselves - as many questions as they like.

Farming is still one of the UK's most dangerous occupations, with 45 fatalities and 1,500 serious injuries in 2009/10. HSE is still investigating two serious incidents that took place last year in Bedfordshire - a tipping lorry which came into contact with an overhead power line on 23rd June in Great Barford and a large vehicle which overturned on a farm near Luton on 5th June.

David Head HM Principal Inspector of Health and Safety said:

"These demonstrations are designed to show just how easily accidents can happen. They will give farmers a clear message about the precautions they need to take to help protect themselves, their families and employees from harm.

"Thousands of agricultural workers every year suffer injuries or ill health, which prevents them from carrying out their normal work. This has a huge effect on the industry.

"This event gives farmers practical advice from people in the farming industry and will help them identify common hazards relevant to their own farms. We expect farmers to put the safe systems of work demonstrated at the event into practice."

Attendance at a SHAD is by invitation only.

Notes to editors

1. For advice and guidance on agriculture-related health and safety issues visit www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture
2. The SHAD will be split into two half-day sessions - the morning session starting at 9.30 am and the afternoon session at 1.30 pm - and will take place at Bedfordia Group, Milton Park, Milton Ernest, Bedford, MK44 1YU.
3. The Health and Safety Executive is Britain's national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice; promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice; and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement.
4. Similar events focussing on agricultural, arboriculture and the woodworking industries have been run by the HSE over the last few years. They have been particularly successful in attracting small businesses to learn of the health and safety risks they face every day at work.
5. Information on health and safety and the agricultural sector is available on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/index.htm
6. For further details of latest HSE statistics in the East of England, see the summary of statistics of occupational ill health, safety and enforcement 2009/10 at http://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/regions/east/index.htm

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