Mat Beale (Chippenham)
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Farm Safety Foundations Farm Safety Week. This excellent charitable organisation works tirelessly to promote a safer environment on farms and agricultural businesses, whilst also visiting organisations, educational campuses, farm shows to get the message across to as many people that we as an industry need to take responsibility for our own health and safety more seriously.
And this message is slowly getting through. Statistics released this week show the number of fatalities in agriculture have nearly halved for the year to 31st March compared to the previous year, to 25 deaths.
While this is welcome news, 25 people still didn’t come home from work, and that is still 25 too many people. The news this week of a 3-year-old boy killed after being struck by a tractor should bring home the dangers that are there on every farm.
The Farm Safety Foundation campaign for a safer working environment for all involved in agriculture. We must all take a lead from this, with everyone involved on farms, owners, employees, advisors, and anyone else who is involved in the business, need to ensure that everyone gets home after work every day.
We are here to help all farms, no matter what size, or type of farm, to offer the best advice and practical solutions to help improve the safety on farms. Let’s all do our bit to make our industry the safest it can be!
You ac discuss any farm safety issues with Mat matbeale@fcgagric.com or contact your local FCG Farm Consultant.