Safety survey to cut farm deaths

Royal Welsh in pictures

Health and safety officials have joined forces with farming leaders in an attempt to cut farm deaths.

A Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) survey is asking workers at the Royal Welsh Show about their attitudes to safety.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has decided to station some officers at the FUW's stand at the show to issue advice to farmers.

HSE figures show that 62 people died on Welsh farms between 1994 and 2005 - five of those were between 2004/05.

There were also 64 non-fatal accidents on farms between 2004/05 - 42 of these needing a hospital stay of more than three days.

However, there are concerns that not all accidents are reported to the authorities.

One death is one too many FUW president Gareth Vaughan

FUW president Gareth Vaughan said: "As far as I'm concerned, one death is one too many and I urge everyone who visits the FUW stand during the course of the show to fill in our questionnaire and talk to specialist HSE staff.

"In order to build up a proper picture of hazards on the farm it's important that we have accurate figures.

"It's possible that a farmer considers his injury to be minor, and doesn't think it's worth reporting."

Mr Vaughan said farmers often decided not to report accidents because they felt they would result in "unnecessary and unwelcome bureaucracy".

As part of the campaign, the FUW's show visitors will be advised by the HSE how to carry out risk assessments on their properties, and free DVDs will be handed out to help them spot potential death traps on their farms.