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Know How / Health and safety

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries in the UK because of the high level of fatal accidents and life-changing injuries. Learn from the experiences of farmers who have been involved in an accident and read practical advice on how to make working on your farm safer.

Key areas of focus:

  • Preventing accidents such as falls from height
  • How to handle livestock safely
  • Safety around machinery
  • Slurry handling safety
  • Pesticide storage

Dying to Feed You campaign

Case studies

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: Corrine's eye socket was fractured

Welsh farmer’s wife and nurse Corrine Mathias suffered a fractured eye socket after being attacked by a cow.  Watch her tell her story in the video and read the report…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: Grace suffered multiple broken bones

Grace Addyman suffered multiple broken bones when she was hit by falling bales at her family farm. She tells us what happened on that day, the difficult surgery that followed…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: Beca fractured skull in quad accident

Beca Glyn was herding sheep across the road on her quad bike when she had an accident. Sadly, she wasn't wearing a helmet and the impact resulted in a serious…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: Mike Nixon fell 28ft through a shed roof

Mike Nixon fell through a shed roof to clean the guttering. He landed on a concrete scrape passage and sustained a serious spinal cord injury.  It began like a normal…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: Rob was attacked by a cow after calving

Rob Lewis was left with a fractured spine after being attacked by a cow while feeding a calf. Here, he tells his story. It’s a day that will be etched…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: James was dragged into a potato harvester

James Bannister lost his left arm after being dragged into a potato harvester. After the trauma of being stuck inside the machine for over two hours, he was airlifted to…

Practical advice

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Farmers urged to put health and safety first this harvest

As combines prepare to roll into fields across Britain, another harvest season is beginning under the shadow of farm fatalities. More than 30 people lost their lives in farm-related incidents…

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

How on-farm adaptations are helping ease physical strain

Bad backs, bad necks, bad knees, bad shoulders. For many farmers, problems like these are simply part of the job – the result of years spent lifting, carrying, bending and…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

How simple steps can protect and save farm lives and others

Knowing what to do in the face of a serious injury helps prevent many deaths from trauma before a casualty reaches hospital. The repercussions of an injury at any level…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Advice on employers' liability, injury and H&S management

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement for any business using labour. It provides cover for legal liability for injury or illness caused to anyone working on the farm. Businesses…

HEALTH AND WELFARE

Fire risk planning - what to consider on a livestock farm

Climate change is driving livestock farmers to consider farm resilience and feed security. But it should also make them think about the increasing challenge from wildfires and the risk to…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Farm building planning: Health and safety obligations

Farmers planning a building project should check their obligations under the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE’s) Construction Design and Management (CDM) Regulations 2015. These govern the way all building projects…

Insights

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HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Level the Field survey reveals widespread physical challenges

Farming has always demanded physical resilience. But Farmers Weekly’s latest research suggests that for many in the industry, resilience is no longer about strength or stamina – it is about…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Farm safety: Is there a level playing field for women?

Farm safety has become a much-discussed topic in recent years, and with good reason. Despite numerous safety campaigns, agriculture statistically remains the nation’s most dangerous industrial occupation. What is perhaps…

SPRAYERS

Options expanded for closed-transfer sprayer filling

Serious concerns about operator and environmental safety when climbing onto sprayers to pour neat chemical into the top of tanks were raised by safety regulators as far back as the…

News

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Farmers offered free places on approved farm safety course

Up to 26 agricultural workers are being offered the chance to win a free place on a new farm safety training course, offered by the NFU Mutual’s Risk Management Service…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Fear culture linked to farm accident under-reporting

A culture of fear is preventing many farm accidents from being reported, raising concerns that opportunities to prevent more serious incidents are being missed, according to new research published during…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Farmers urged to ensure compliance with construction laws

Farmers carrying out routine repairs and maintenance on their holdings are being urged to check they are fully compliant with construction safety rules before work begins. Legal specialists say many…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Stark harvest safety warning as 41 farm deaths remembered

As combines start to roll and one of the busiest periods of the farming calendar gets under way, farmers have been given a sobering reminder that every harvest must begin…

Video

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HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: Grace suffered multiple broken bones

Grace Addyman suffered multiple broken bones when she was hit by falling bales at her family farm. She tells us what happened on that day, the difficult surgery that followed…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: Beca fractured skull in quad accident

Beca Glyn was herding sheep across the road on her quad bike when she had an accident. Sadly, she wasn't wearing a helmet and the impact resulted in a serious…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Video: Tractor crashes into 130kV electricity pylon

A farmworker had a lucky escape after his tractor hit a National Grid electricity pylon – demolishing the structure and causing a major power outage. Emergency services were called to…

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Dying to Feed You: 12-year-old William Sayers lost his arm

William Sayers was 12 years old when he lost his arm in an accident on the family farm in Northern Ireland. Here, he tells his story. It was an Easter…