21-25 July marks the 13th annual Farm Safety Week. This week-long campaign has one goal - to encourage everyone in the industry to make farms safer places to live and to work.
Over the past 12 years, the message from the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), the charity leading the campaign, has been consistent: take extra care when working with animals, machinery and moving vehicles. The campaign has made significant strides in raising awareness and encouraging safer practices, but this year it focuses on shining a light on less obvious, but equally critical issues affecting safety and wellbeing.
Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation said:
“Over the years we have seen the attitudes and behaviours around farm safety changing but the pace of change is slow – too slow for the families of those we have lost in the industry and too slow for the thousands of farmers suffering every day with long term ill-health or serious injuries as a result of their work. This year’s campaign offers an opportunity for a reset in the way we approach farm safety and risk-taking. Each of us can improve how we work on the farm, but we also have a responsibility not to tolerate poor safety behaviours in others.”
Farming continues to have the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK and Ireland, and Farm Safety Week will bring together over 400 farming organisations in five countries - England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland - to raise awareness, inspire change and encourage everyone in the industry to make farms safer places to work, live and visit.
Carrie Smith, External Affairs Manager from RPA added:
“We are proud to support the annual Farm Safety Week campaign. Farming is more than a job; it’s a way of life so keeping it safe is a responsibility we all share. Whether new to the industry or farming for years, we all have a role to play in improving the poor safety record that we can’t seem to shake.”
This year’s campaign objectives are:
- to continue challenging and changing the attitudes to risk-taking and working safely
- to share evidence and real experiences of the past 13 years to remind audiences to take positive steps to improve their attitudes and behaviours
- to highlight the importance of wearing PPE, especially eye protection, when carrying out a variety of farming tasks
- to highlight the critical importance of safe operation of agricultural vehicles and, in particular, quad bikes
- to celebrate the Farm Safety Heroes from each of the partner countries working to drive a positive change in the industry
For more information on Farm Safety Week visit www.yellowwellies.org or follow @yellowwelliesUK on X/Facebook/Instagram using the hashtag #FarmSafetyWeek.
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