HSE calls for more safety on farms
12/07/2010
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is continuing to call for greater safety in the farming industry following a number of recent accidents in Scotland.
A 70-year-old farmhand was killed earlier this month when his tractor was towing a seed drill across a field in the Glencarse area near Perth.
Days before this firefighters had to cut a man free after his tractor overturned near Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire.
Also, two Angus farm workers were hurt in an incident at Lunan Bay, near Montrosein when the telehandler they were operating toppled over a cliff in May.
The call comes after official HSE figures showed that 38 workers were killed working on UK farms in 2009-10. This was up by 13 on the previous year.
The figures, alongside the more recent cases, back-up the HSE's call for improved safety across the farming industry.
Also, earlier this year a HSE inspection among Scottish farms found that 62% of them were not using All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) safely.
Figures show that on average, two people are killed and more than a 1,000 are injured each year in ATV accidents.
The HSE, backed by Scottish secretary Michael Moore, says that farmers are not taking the risks present when working with ATVs seriously.
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