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Fatalities within the Agricultural Industry
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According to average figures for working groups, injuries, fatalities and stress occur in much higher incidence in the agricultural sector. Agricultural work is inherently hazardous due to the use of potentially dangerous machinery and agricultural vehicles, chemicals, livestock, and working locations at height, near drains, pits and silos.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) reports that between 1 April 2006 and 31 March 2007, 43 fatal injuries (this excludes deaths resulting from reportable diseases) were reported within the Agriculture sector (which includes Farming, Forestry, Horticulture and associated industries). This included 4 children under 16 years of age and 3 members of the public.
Fatal Injuries by Cause 2006/07
|
Cause |
Total |
Percentage |
|
Injured by an animal |
11 |
26% |
|
Struck by moving, falling or flying object |
10 |
23% |
|
Falls from height |
9 |
21% |
|
Transport overturning vehicles or struck by moving vehicle |
5 |
12% |
|
Electrocution |
4 |
9% |
|
Asphyxiation or Drowning |
3 |
7% |
|
Trapped by something collapsing or overturning |
1 |
2% |
|
|
43 |
100% |
Other factors are increasingly causing concern for the long term health of farmers and farm workers. These include skin cancer, the effects of heat, sustained vibration and excessive noise levels, and stress.
Stress factors include areas over which farmers have little or no control, such as market prices, European and Government regulation and increased paperwork, and unpredictable events such as disease outbreaks (FMD, BTV for example), the weather and flooding. Both DEFRA and HSE plan to carry out further research into stress within the sector.
Fatalities in Agriculture over the 10 year period 1996-2006
|
|
1996/97 |
1997/98 |
1998/99 |
1999/00 |
2000/01 |
2001/02 |
2002/03 |
2003/04 |
2004/05 |
2005/06 |
Total |
|
Employed |
20 |
20 |
16 |
13 |
13 |
20 |
15 |
6 |
17 |
13 |
153 |
|
Self -Employed |
35 |
20 |
30 |
23 |
33 |
19 |
20 |
38* |
27 |
23 |
268 |
|
Members of the Public
of which were Children (<16) |
9 |
11 |
9 |
8 |
7 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
3 |
9 |
68 |
|
7 |
4 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
32 | |
|
Total |
64 |
51 |
55 |
44 |
53 |
41 |
38 |
51 |
47 |
45 |
489 |
*Includes the 21 Cockle pickers drowned by incoming tides at Morecambe bay, Lancashire
Over the 10 year period 1996/1997 to 2005/2006, a total of 489 fatalities within the industry were reported to the Health and Safety Executive, with many more being injured or unwell. This means that on average, almost one person a week was killed as a direct result of an agricultural work activity over the past ten years.
The largest proportion was self employed people (268) and analysis of trends over the years does suggest that those self employed in agriculture experience higher rates of injury and fatality compared with those of employees. The HSE suggests that their regulatory approach, which historically concentrated on inspection, was successful for larger enterprises with a management structure in place but that it had not succeeded with the increasing proportion of self-employed and small family farmers. The self employed sector is a key focus for the HSE.
The occupation group with the highest reported fatalities was the Arborists/Forestry Workers, accounting for 30 deaths; 24 of whom were self-employed.
There is continuing evidence to suggest that the older more experienced farm worker is still at greater risk than his younger counterpart. During 2006/2007 74% of fatalities were in people over age 35 with the most deaths occurring in the over 65 age band.
For information on the legal health and safety requirements and for guidance on prevention of accidents see www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture
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