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Health & Safety Update (Spring 2011)
Extract from : Current 'HSE Agriculture e-Bulletin'
The year has got off to a difficult start; HSE is currently investigating a number of fatal incidents at agricultural premises. Please take extra care around machinery and vehicles and ensure that they are properly maintained and guarded where necessary. Make that promise to come home safe for yourself and your family.
In this packed edition of the bulletin, we look at a number of topics including Safety and Health Awareness Days (SHADs). We have a number of new dates for these free events. You can also find out about the new register for safety consultants and about the proposed changes to the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR).(Link to HSE bulletin)
Tragic rise in agriculture deaths (2010)
New figures for the number of workers who were fatally injured in the agriculture sector have been released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They show that between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010:
- 38 agriculture workers were killed at work, marking a return to average levels of previous years in contrast to the record low in 2008/09 when 25 workers died
- the rate of fatal injuries in the sector was 8.2 per 100,000 workers, making it the most dangerous industry in which to work
- of the 38 agriculture workers killed, 17 were employees and 21 were self employed people.
- seven members of the public were also killed in work related accidents in the sector.
HSE's Head of Agriculture, Graeme Walker said:
"38 workers were killed on British farms last year, failing to come home to their families because of avoidable safety failings - proving once again that agriculture is the most dangerous way of making a living in Great Britain. The fact that many of these lives have been lost in family businesses is a double tragedy. Not only have families been ripped apart, but businesses that have been handed down through generations have been ruined. Farming and agricultural work has a poor safety record compared with other industries - we cannot let this trend continue."
Judith Hackitt, the HSE Chair, said:
"We are especially concerned to see the continuing high levels of fatalities in agriculture. No industry can or should regard high levels of death and injury as being 'part of the job'. It is time for British agriculture industry to wake up to the enormous toll of death and injury which occurs year on year and lead the way to improvement just as other sectors have shown is possible."
HSE Agricultural Campaign :
"Make the promise – come home safe !"
It's still happening - People are dying in needless accidents on British farms. Parents. Grandparents. Children. In the last ten years, 455 people did not come home.
That’s why, a year into the Make the Promise campaign, it’s still crucial that more farmers make the promise to come home safely. How you keep the promise is up to you. Only you know the day-to-day reality of your work. Only you can make the commitment to yourself, your family and your farm. In the year ahead, we will be working to support farmers around the country and make sure more of you come home safe. So if you do one thing in 2010 please make – or reaffirm – your promise. Together we can make 2010 a safer year for every farm and farmer.
For all the information you need to make and keep your promise - including a copy of ‘How lives are lost on British farms’ - please visit the HSE website.
WHY BE ‘PROACTIVE’ ?
P MORAL REASONS
Your general ‘Duty of Care’ / sense of concern for other people (i.e. nobody wants to get hurt or injured at work).
P ECONOMIC FACTORS
Be aware of the actual costs involved with an accident (i.e. not just ‘direct costs’ such as fines / sick pay / compensation / claims excess BUT also ‘indirect costs’ such as replacement labour / increased premiums / bad publicity etc).
P LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
If you don’t comply, you are breaking the law (the ‘Health & Safety at Work Act 1974’ remains the basis of all current UK legislation). In recent years, the HSE have issued more enforcement notices, plus prosecuted more offences and obtained more convictions, with the average penalty being about £15,000.
(Source: HSE)
That’s why, a year into the Make the Promise campaign, it’s still crucial that more farmers make the promise to come home safely. How you keep the promise is up to you. Only you know the day-to-day reality of your work. Only you can make the commitment to yourself, your family and your farm. In the year ahead, we will be working to support farmers around the country and make sure more of you come home safe. So if you do one thing in 2010 please make – or reaffirm – your promise. Together we can make 2010 a safer year for every farm and farmer.
For all the information you need to make and keep your promise - including a copy of ‘How lives are lost on British farms’ - please visit the HSE website.
WHY BE ‘PROACTIVE’ ?
P MORAL REASONS
Your general ‘Duty of Care’ / sense of concern for other people (i.e. nobody wants to get hurt or injured at work).
P ECONOMIC FACTORS
Be aware of the actual costs involved with an accident (i.e. not just ‘direct costs’ such as fines / sick pay / compensation / claims excess BUT also ‘indirect costs’ such as replacement labour / increased premiums / bad publicity etc).
P LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
If you don’t comply, you are breaking the law (the ‘Health & Safety at Work Act 1974’ remains the basis of all current UK legislation). In recent years, the HSE have issued more enforcement notices, plus prosecuted more offences and obtained more convictions, with the average penalty being about £15,000.
(Source: HSE)
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