BRITAIN 2009 Deadly Year for Farmers UK Starts Safety Campaign

When workplace injuries come to mind the first employees one might think about are workers in factories, offices, building sites and over the road drivers. However, farming can be and is a dangerous industry. The “workplace” is unpredictable given the types of locations and size of machinery and weather.

Farmers in Great Britain are being encouraged to make their New Year's resolution a promise to come home safe from the fields. Nearly 15,000 farmers have already signed up to the campaign. More are now being encouraged to do the same.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has launched the next phase in its 'Make the Promise' campaign with the stark message that people are still dying in needless farm accidents.

Across Great Britain, 38 workers lost their lives in farming-related incidents between January and November 2009. Recently finalized figures for 2008/09 showed 589 people were seriously injured in farming accidents.

Working in agriculture remains one of the most dangerous ways to make a living. It accounts for around one in five work-related deaths every year, although only 1.5% of the working population is employed in the sector.

In 2008/09 the highest percentage of fatal injuries to agricultural workers resulted from contact with moving machinery (27%). The most common kind of reported non-fatal injury to employees occurred through handling, lifting or carrying objects (26%).

Judith Donovan, HSE board member and its agriculture champion, noted, "For those 15,000 farmers we now have made the promise to come home safe, and the many more who may have made the pledge privately, the challenge for them now is to keep it, particularly when they're battling the weather or working to tight timescales. Losing concentration or taking seemingly harmless shortcuts is when horrific accidents can happen.

"To those farmers yet to make the promise, we encourage them to do it not only for themselves, but for their family and their livelihoods. "Over the last 10 years, 455 lives have been lost on British farms – that's hundreds of families and farms devastated. Let's make 2010 the year everyone comes home safe." (workersxzcompxzkit)

As part of the campaign, farmers can request 'Promise Knots' to place around their homes and farms as a simple, but ever-present reminder of the commitment they have made to come home safe.

Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers' Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: [email protected] or 860-553-6604.

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