HSEreports rise in fatalities on Scottish farms
HSEreports rise in fatalities on Scottish farms
SCOTLANDS agricultural safety record took a downward turn last year.
Eleven people were killed in agricultural accidents in Scotland last year, reports the Health and Safety Executive, the second highest total for five years. Bad as these figures are, the situation is worsened when it is known that two of the casualties were children.
Chief agricultural inspector, David Matty points out that: "Without doubt, all these deaths could have been avoided. None were freak accidents that could not have been foreseen or prevented.
"The key message is for farmers and others to take a hard look at the way they do the job and positively manage risk. Time and again it is the lack of a safe system that kills."
Other concerns voiced by Mr Matty involved the 75% increase in the number of reported major injuries during 1996/97. As with the number of child deaths, the 106 incidents was the highest figure this decade.
"Such injuries cost the people involved and those around them dear, in pain and disruption as well as big financial loss," he says.