Farmers encouraged to attend Staffordshire safety event after thumbs up

Date:

24 November 2011

Release No:

WM542/11

Farmers are being encouraged to attend a free safety awareness event in Staffordshire to get to grips with health and safety in one of Britain's most dangerous industries.

Nearly 8,000 places are being made available at Safety and Health Awareness Days (SHADs) across the country, with the aim of cutting the number of deaths and injuries in future.

The safety event in Newcastle-under-Lyme, which has been organised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), will take place at the Sports Centre, Keele University, on Tuesday 6 December.

Ninety-five per cent of the 1,300 farmers surveyed after attending one of last year's safety events said they would recommend them to others. Around three-quarters also said the events had greatly increased their understanding of the potential causes of accidents and the actions they could take to prevent deaths and injuries.

Figures from HSE show, on average, 35 people are killed on British farms every year, despite there being less than 1.5 per cent of the population working in the industry.

Practical demonstrations at the event at Keele University will focus on safe use and maintenance of farm vehicles and machinery, working at height, manual handling, and working with chemicals.

Lynne Boulton, HSE principal inspector for agriculture in Staffordshire, said:

"Many farmers are self-employed or run small family businesses and we want to make sure they're not putting themselves and their livelihoods at risk.

"We'll be offering simple tips that won't cost a lot to put into practice and could even help to boost productivity. The free events are also an opportunity to catch up with other local farmers and share industry knowledge.

"It's an alarming statistic that farmers are ten times more likely than most workers to be killed while at work. I'd encourage them to give up half a day of their time to come along to the event in Newcastle-under-Lyme."

Farmers can arrange to attend the free event in Newcastle-under-Lyme on Tuesday 6 December by emailing agriculture.shads@hse.gsi.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

1. 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. www.hse.gov.uk
2. Figures covering the last five years show eight in every 100,000 farmers are killed at work in Great Britain every year, compared to the average figure for workplace deaths of eight in every million.
3. HSE news releases are available at www.hse.gov.uk/press.

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Issued on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive by COI News & PR West Midlands