Welsh farmers were urged to look out for themselves and each other during the Royal Welsh Show by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
HSE board member Sandy Blair noted, "Death and injury in farming shouldn't be accepted as 'part of the job'; that's a dangerously old-fashioned view of a modern industry.
"We all recognize how important agriculture is to the Welsh economy and environment, so it goes without saying that the safety of those farmers who dedicate their lives to it needs to be a priority."
His comments come in the wake of new figures from the Health and Safety Executive showing agriculture to be the most dangerous industry in Britain, with proportionately more work-related deaths than any other sector. (WCxKit)
Thirty-eight workers died while carrying out farm work in 2009/10, in contrast to 25 fatalities the previous year – a record low; and, marking a return to average levels of previous years, echoing comments Judith Hackitt, HSE Chair, made in address to the NFU Council., Blair urges agriculture to learn from other industries:
Urging agriculture to learn from other industries, Blair said, "We're very concerned about the performance in agriculture particularly when we look at the improvements we're seeing in every other industry. Ten years ago construction was considered a hazardous industry, but it's made real improvements for the better with the lowest ever level of fatalities this year.
"We alone as regulator cannot make farms safe. A culture change, led by the industry, is necessary to help unsafe working practices become widely viewed in agricultural communities as unacceptable, not an inevitable part of farming life."
The biggest cause of fatal and major injury in Wales (all preventable) according to one official, are incidents involving the maintenance vehicles like tractors, ATVs, telehandlers and trailers, working at height during building maintenance, and those involving cattle. (WCxKit)
HSE also used the show to encourage farmers to “Make the Promise” to come home safe, as part of a wider program of activity in the agricultural sector to help reduce the numbers of people killed or injured on farms. To date, almost 2,400 Welsh farmers have made that pledge.
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