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Agriculture still the most dangerous industry in the UK - Sept 2010
Latest HSE figures show that agriculture, in the broadest sense, remains the most hazardous UK industry with 38 fatal injuries for 2009 / 2010, 13 more than the previous year.
This is a rate of 8.2 deaths per 100,000 workers, compared to 0.5 deaths per 100,000 for UK industry as a whole. The next most hazardous industries were extraction and utility supply with 3.2 deaths per 100,000 (6 deaths in 2009 / 10) and construction with 2 deaths per 100,000 (29 deaths).
With agriculture representing only 1.5% of the UK workforce, but accounting for 20% of work-related deaths, it is not surprising that the number of prosecutions in this area is increasing.
Agriculture covers a range of activities where working in isolation is normal, where seasonal stress can cause risks to be taken, where a lack of basic training - and refresher courses - can contribute to accidents and where large numbers of migrant workers may make communication difficult.
Transport accidents e.g. people being run over or vehicles overturning, accounted for nearly a quarter of all deaths in agriculture. Other common causes of death included falls from height e.g. from trees or through fragile roofs (17%), being struck by moving or falling objects e.g. bales, trees etc (15%) and livestock related incidents (10%).
Crown House, our health and safety division, can help agricultural and associated businesses in a number of ways.
Please speak to your usual contact if you need an audit of your operations, help with introducing a safety management system, assessing risks or other safety issues.
