The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) free ‘Farmwise’ guide is being used to educate the next generation of farmers in Scotland about safety issues on farms.

The Scottish Agricultural College has introduced farm safety into its curriculum for the next generation of students, using advice from the HSE to highlight practical issues.

Farming is one of the UK’s most dangerous industries – and although only around 1.5 per cent of the workforce is employed in agriculture, 20 per cent of work-related deaths occur in farming. In the year 2008-09, a total of 26 farm workers lost their lives.

HSE inspector Lawrence Murray said that the health and safety initiative was aimed at stamping out ‘bad working habits’ before they started.

‘Tractors, complex machinery, lifting and carrying heavy loads – as well as working from heights – all make the farm a hazardous environment where workers need to take extra care,’ he said.

John Elcock – a lecturer at the Scottish Agricultural College who is also a representative of the college’s Learning Division, Health and Safety Committee – added:

‘We consider health and safety on farms a topic of paramount importance and so welcome the input from HSE.’

President of the National Farmers' Union Scotland, Jim Mclaren, said:

‘Any death at work is one too many. These accidents destroy lives, whole families and farm businesses. The work of HSE is of massive importance to the industry and we wholeheartedly support it.’

The HSE is to launch the second stage of its safer farming initiative in December. The ‘Make the Promise. Come Home Safe’ campaign will be looking to recruit more farm workers – a total of 15,000 have already responded up since the launch of the campaign in 2008.

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