Farmers encouraged to attend Herefordshire safety event after thumbs up

Date:

30 January 2012

Release No:

WM576/12

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

The Safety and Health and Awareness Day (SHAD) which has been organised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), will take place at Herefordshire College of Technology's Holme Lacy campus on Tuesday 14 February.

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

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.

Fatalities in agriculture accounted for one in five workplace deaths in 2010/11, despite there being less than 1.5 per cent of the population working in the industry.

Practical demonstrations at the two half-day sessions at Holme Lacy will focus on safe use and maintenance of farm vehicles and machinery, working at height, manual handling, and safe handling of livestock.

Harvey Wild, HSE principal inspector for agriculture in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, 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 at Holme Lacy."

There are still some places available for the morning session, which starts at 8.45am. To book your place, please contact Belinda Hall on 01905 743600 or email formsadmin.worcester@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