Let’s make farms safer in 2022

As we start 2022, we know our members are working as hard as ever to meet the challenges they’re up against.

One challenge that needs to be at the forefront of everyone’s minds is improving on-farm safety.

You’ll probably be aware that British agriculture has the worst rate of fatal injuries of all the UK’s main industries.

Farmers and farm workers are 20 times more likely to be killed at work than the national average for all industries, according to the latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures.

Shockingly, a recent RABI survey (PDF) has found that 16% of farmers have experienced injuries at work, and more than six out of 10 farmers suffer from work related pain.

Help save lives and protect the health of farm workers

We hope you’ll agree that improving our industry’s safety record is vital, which is why we believe it is essential to check that all farms have a Health and Safety Policy in place, and that anyone who is on site is made aware of it.

Of course, this isn’t a fix-all solution, but having a written policy in place and making sure everyone on site understands it is an important early step to improving on-farm safety.

As you know, a new set of revised farm standards for Red Tractor members in came into effect in November.

Our standards are now consistent across all schemes when it comes to helping tackle the high rate of accidents that occur on UK farms.

Red Tractor assurance means food is British, traceable, safe, and responsibly produced.

It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that food is safe to eat, but also that the health of those whose job it is to produce it isn’t harmed in the process.

Extra clarification

The standard PL.5 requires all farms to have a written Health and Safety Policy, and this should be communicated to any workers. Please read the relevant scheme standards manual or visit our website for full details.

Preparing a Health and Safety Policy doesn’t have to be time consuming. There are free tools available, including a downloadable policy template on the HSE’s website.

For more information and handy tips to help you meet every standard, every day and to avoid non-conformances at your next assessment please visit our website. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the Red Tractor team.

Thank you for working with us to make British agriculture safer.