E115:03
GROWING, WARNS HSE - JOINT ACTION STILL NEEDED
One person was killed in the East Midlands last year as a possible result of an agricultural accident, according to the Health & Safety Executive''s latest agricultural fatality statistics.
Announcing the number of fatal accidents in agriculture in 2002/03, Linda Williams, the Health & Safety Executive''s Chief Inspector of Agriculture, said:
"Although I welcome the fact that the total number of people killed is, at 38, the lowest figure in over a decade, I must warn against complacency, particularly in regard to fatalities among the self-employed.
"This group accounted for 20 cases out of the total, while employees numbered 15, and three were members of the public, including, sadly, one child.
"If we compare the workforce figures with those for the previous year, the number of self-employed who died rose by one, while the number of employees fell by five.
"In a sector where the workforce is declining year on year, any rising trend of injuries is of special concern, because it means that the injury rate - the number of workers killed per 100,000 - is even higher than it appears from the headline figures. The injury rate helps us to establish what is really going on.
"Looking at the trends over the last 17 years, the incident rate for fatal injuries amongst employees has gradually declined. However, in the case of the self-employed, we have seen consistently higher rates, and the fact is that the rate of fatal injuries among the self-employed in agriculture has been higher in the past few years than it was in the early 1990s.
Mrs Williams continued: "HSE and the industry can take some comfort, and, I believe, some credit for, the decline in incident rate among the employed, and we must continue to find new and innovative ways to drive this down further.
"But we must also tackle the much higher rates amongst the self-employed and family farmers. It is more difficult for us to connect with this part of the agriculture sector but we have embarked on a number of workstreams to deal with the problem. "The Agriculture Inspectorate will continue to run its successful programme of Safety Awareness Days specifically targeted at the self-employed and family farms, demonstrating common health and safety risks and solutions.
"In particular we plan co-coordinated action to make the industry a much safer place to work in. We will be strengthening our links with the National Farmers Union, the Transport & General Workers Union and a wide range of individuals and organisations with interest and influence in the agricultural and rural community. Through partnership and co-operation we are determined to reduce the tragic toll of preventable deaths in agriculture.
"In doing so we will be working towards meeting the more challenging targets which were agreed with the Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC) in October 2002, building on the Health & Safety Commission''s overall strategy."
Mrs Williams added that HSE would also improve the Agriculture web page on the HSE website; produce downloadable software to simplify the process of risk assessment and to help farmers apply good practice in health and safety; and continue to deliver targeted publicity and free good practice leaflets and other guidance in plain language.
Simple steps that farming families could take include: Visit the web site () and/or ring HSE information line Attend when invited to HSE safety awareness days Get hold of HSE leaflets and other guidance Follow the guidance - put it into practice
In the coming year, HSE will be targeting transport (which claimed 12 lives, 32% of the total this year), falls from height, child safety and musculoskeletal disorders in their visits to farms and forests.
Single copies of ''Fatal injuries in farming, forestry and horticulture 2002/2003'' are available free from the Health & Safety Executive, Agriculture & Food Sector, National Agricultural Centre, Stoneleigh, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ.
Note to editors
The new strategic targets agreed with AIAC for agriculture are:
Reduction in fatal accident incident rate to EMPLOYEES by 5% by 2004 and by 30% by 2010; Reduction in fatal accident incident rate to SELF EMPLOYED by 5% by 2004 and by 10% by 2010 (with agreement to review in 2004/05 and potentially raise target to 15% by 2010); Reduction in major accident incident rate to EMPLOYEES by 5% by 2004 and by 30% by 2010; Reduction in child fatal accidents to zero by 2010.
These are significantly more challenging targets than those originally set for HSE by the Health and Safety Commission.
PUBLIC ENQUIRIES: Call HSE''s InfoLine, tel: 08701 545500, or write to: HSE Information Services, Caerphilly Business Park, Caerphilly, CF83 3GG HSE information and press releases can be accessed on the Internet
TABLE 1.5: Number of fatal injuries - by HSE Division, 2002/03 (Figures in brackets represent the number of children under 16 year)
HSE Division Counties and Unitary Authorities (UAs)Number
Wales & South West 8(1) Wales All Wales Uas 4(1) South West Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucs, Somerset, Wilts * 4
East and South East 10 South Former county of Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight. * 2 East Anglia Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk5 Home Counties Bedfordshire, Former county of Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire. *1 South East East Sussex, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey, West Sussex. *2
London All London Boroughs London
Midlands 2 East Midlands Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, *1 West Midlands West Midlands, Warwickshire North Midlands Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire * Marches Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire *1
Yorkshire & North East 5 South Yorks & Humberside N and NE Lincolnshire, South Yorks, Yorks (E Riding) *1 West & North Yorkshire North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire *2 North East Durham, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear *2
North West 2 Manchester Greater Manchester Merseyside Cheshire, Merseyside North West Cumbria, Lancashire2
Scotland 11 Scotland East Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee, Edinburgh, Falkirk, Fife, Highland, E & W Lothian, Midlothian, Moray, Orkney, Perthshire & Kinross, Scottish Borders, Shetland, Stirling8
Scotland West Argyll & Bute, E, N & S Ayrshire, N & S Lanarkshire, All other UAs in the formerStrathclyde Region, Dumfries & Galloway, Western Isles3
* = and associated UAs TOTAL 38 (1)
SUMMARY OF FATAL ACCIDENTS BY HSE DIVISION 1 APRIL 2002 - 31 MARCH 2003
WALES & SOUTH WEST DIVISION
Wales
67 years self employed farmer He was crushed between the mast of a forklift truck and a fertilizer spreader whilst emptying bags of fertilizer from the raised forks of the FLT into a hopper. He was leaning over the rear of the hopper to cut the bags. As the contents of the bag emptied, the FLT moved forward crushing him between the mast and the rear edge of the hopper.
30 years self employed contractor He was found trapped between the end of a loader and its boom. It appears that he had raised the loader grab to gain access to the cab of the machine. He then stood under the unsupported grab to carry out repair work in the cab. He either accidentally operated the foot hydraulic control causing the boom to descend or it sustained an uncovenanted, unpowered descent. The machine was provided with cab operated boom supports but these were not fitted.
12 years child He suffered multiple fatal injuries when he became entangled on an unguarded PTO shaft connecting a tractor to a roller mill. It appears that he approached or was in the vicinity of roller milling machine whilst the machine was being operated and became entangled on the power input connection stub on the PTO drive shaft.
51 years employee He was killed when his head was crushed against the side of a trailer whilst feeding sheep from the back of trailer, towed by a tractor. The tractor drove over the unprotected edge of a gravel pit in the field and as the trailer landed it crushed his head.
South West
65 years employee He was found unconscious on grass verge at bottom of field beside an ATV and trailer. He had either attempted to reverse to reposition the ATV, but inadvertently engaged a forward gear or he had left the bike in gear and on accelerating moved rapidly forward. The ATV mounted the bank and overturned, causing head and internal injuries. No formal training had been provided, nor was he wearing a safety helmet.
64 years employee He was killed when a tractor overturned down a slope. The tractor, parked on a farm track, suddenly began to move down track on its own accord. The deceased attempted to climb into the tractor to bring it to rest. It is believed that in attempting to do so he grabbed hold of the steering wheel causing it to veer off the track onto a steep grass field. He was thrown from the cab as the tractor started to overturn and was found unconscious. His head may have hit the ground or alternatively he was struck by one or more parts of the tractor.
60 years self employed farmer He was crushed between two lorries. A bulk tipper lorry was parked on a sloping yard at pig unit after difficulties had been experienced unloading it. An ERF bulk tipper was brought in to replace. Whilst he was standing alongside the ERF, the lorry ran backwards crushing him between the two vehicles.
76 years self employed farmer He was hit on the head by a slurry gate in high winds. He opened a sheeted slurry lagoon gate at the side of a farm building. As he did so the wind caught it and slammed it shut, causing the gate to jump and twist out of the bottom hinge. He tried to lift the gate back onto the hinge and as he did this, the gate twisted again knocking him to the concrete floor.
EAST AND SOUTH EAST DIVISION
South
21 years employee and 27 years self employed contractor Two men died when they became entangled on a rope being wound onto a tractor driven, hydraulic operated fleece winding machine. The machine was being used to wind long lengths of rope. It seems that they were either both attempting to feed rope onto the winder at the same time or that one was assisting the other by pulling/untangling rope from the piles at the end of the polytunnels. They became entangled between the rope and the rotating shaft and sustained fatal injuries.
East Anglia
48 years employee He was crushed against a mobile cleaning machine by a forklift truck. He had finished processing wheat seeds when his colleague got onto the forklift to move the last bag. When it started, it moved forward trapping him against the machine.
45 years self employed farmer He drowned when his vehicle overturned into a dyke. He was using a loadall to level a farm track next to a dyke when he either accidentally reversed over the edge, or the edge of the dyke gave way. The vehicle overturned into the dyke trapping him beneath the water.
45 years self employed farmer He received head injuries when he fell onto a metal rod. He was found lying on a concrete yard between 2 pig houses. An adjacent metal gate had recently broken from its hinges and a blunt metal rod had been placed through the lock of a nearby shed door, to keep the door closed. It seems that he jumped over the gate, which broke and pitched him onto the metal rod. The rod impacted through his right eye socket causing fatal brain injuries.
46 years employee He died when a telehandler reversed over him whilst he was working in farm yard outside a barn. He was kneeling on the ground removing timber expansion strips from newly laid concrete adjacent to barn doors. The telehandler was reversing to enter the barn door. Despite attempts made by two eyewitnesses to alert the driver he reversed over him. The vehicles wing mirrors were in good condition. Visibility was good, but the view on the nearside was possibly obstructed by the cab door, CCTV was subsequently fitted.
31 years self employed He was hit on the head and became trapped underneath a large branch whilst felling a tree. Before carrying out the first cut, he attached his lifeline to another bough, which was later found to be rotten. As the bough that was cut fell, it bought down the rotten bough to which he was attached. His lifeline came down and he was trapped and killed. It appears the boughs had grown into each other and were inextricably linked.
Home Counties
20 years employee She was crushed when a forklift truck overturned onto its side. She was standing to the side of an FLT that was being driven by an untrained, unauthorised student. It appears that during an act of horseplay, involving spinning the FLT and cornering sharply, the vehicle fell onto its side crushing her between the vehicle and the floor.
South East
60 years - member of the public He died after falling from the rear of the trailer whilst helping to load and move hay bales. He had loaded a number of bales onto trailer and was standing on the trailer as the farmer began to drive forward. He fell from the rear as the tractor moved forward from a stationary position. Farmer may have sharply declutched causing a sudden, sharp, unexpected movement. He was taken to hospital and subsequently released but returned a few days later where he died from conditions resulting from the accident.
44 years - employee He was killed when the mower he was driving on an incline, overturned and fell on top of him.
MIDLANDS DIVISION
East Midlands
66 years - member of the public He was found in a barn at the base of a ladder with head injuries. He would occasionally visit farm to help out with odd jobs. He was seen entering barn and later found with head injuries, a broken wrist and knee injuries consistent with a trip or stumble at ground level. Natural causes not completely ruled out.
Marches
63 years self employed farmer He was found unconscious at the base of a wooden ladder. It was thought he had been using the ladder to gain access to a blocked pipe on the roof of a cattle shed. There was no evidence to suggest that the ladder had been tied to the building or secured against movement in some other way. The surface on which the ladder had been standing was a combination of mud and concrete. The ladder was in poor condition and was neither properly footed nor otherwise secured to prevent accidental movement.
YORKSHIRE & NORTH EAST DIVISION
South Yorkshire & Humberside
58 years - employee He was found trapped between two trees. Trees were being felled as part of a thinning operation in a small wood. Two felled trees were still hung up on standing trees. It appears that the last tree felled had hung up across another hung up tree and then fallen directly onto the deceased as he made his way through the wood. There was no obvious reason as to why he had walked directly into the danger zone.
West & North Yorkshire
19 years - employee He was kicked in the head by one of four horses over wintered in a paddock. He entered the paddock to fasten the retaining strap on a horse blanket, which had come loose on one of the horses. As he attempted to fasten the strap, he was accidentally kicked on the side of his head by a second horse galloping past.
55 years self employed farmer He was found with severe head and chest injuries in a field and was believed to have been crushed by his bull. Three days before the fatal accident he had been attacked by the bull while trying to move cattle to an adjacent field. He received hospital treatment for his injuries and was on medication. On the day of the accident he left the farm to check on the cattle but was later found in the field with trample injuries. It appears he was either attacked again or that he had fainted as a result of his earlier injuries and been trampled by the cattle.
North East
24 years - employee He was killed when the ATV he was driving struck a tree. Employed as a gamekeeper he was driving the quad bike along a forest track on a return journey after feeding birds in the forest. As he drove off the road he appeared to have lost control and driven head-on into a tree. Head protection had been provided but was not being worn.
28 years self employed He was killed when he became trapped up a tree that had caught fire. He was dismantling two trees in a domestic garden and had started a fire at the base of one of the trees to burn the branches. It appears that a tree branch that he had sawn off had dropped into the fire, causing hot embers to fly up into the air and ignite some of the lower branches. The two trees caught fire before he could get down. His body was found on the ground.
NORTH WEST DIVISION
North West
56 years self employed farmer He died as a result of slipping and fracturing his tibia on a concrete floor. The farmer got out of vehicle to open a gate, when he slipped and fractured a tibia. The five bar gate was on a well made and relatively clean concrete yard. He died four days later in hospital from a pulmonary embolism.
57 years - employee He was found in a river. He had been sent with a farm dog to bring in cattle across a ford for milking. He never returned and was later found drowned lying in the river, downstream of the ford. There is no evidence as to how he entered the river.
SCOTLAND
Scotland East
29 years - employee He was trapped in the rollers of a potato harvester whilst he trying to clear a blockage. He climbed onto the harvester without stopping the machine or tractor and attempted to unblock the rollers using a metal bar and is believed to have fallen or been drawn into machine. His right arm, shoulder and part of his chest became trapped in the haulm rollers of the harvester causing fatal injuries.
29 years self employed He died from a single gunshot wound to his chest. He was checking a fox trap in a steep sided gulley when the gun accidentally discharged. It appears he either slipped while carrying the gun or that it discharged when being laid down or picked up off the ground.
42 years self employed He was killed when he was struck by a falling tree on a steep hillside. It appears that he had felled a tree that became hung up and then attempted to take down the tree in the direction it was hung. The tree worked itself loose knocking him over and down the slope as it fell.
68 years self employed farmer He was killed when he became impaled on the forks of a front-end loader. He was using a tractor with a front-end loader attachment to transport metal roofing sheets from a trailer to a silage pit he was constructing. He stopped the tractor on a slight slope, near to the silage pit and applied the handbrake. As he was standing in front of the tractor it rolled forward and the forks pierced his groin, impaling him against the silage face.
68 years self employed farmer He suffered fatal head injuries after falling from a trailer onto a concrete floor whilst leveling grain prior to sheeting. The height of the trailer body was approximately 2.2 metres at the point at which he had been standing immediately prior to the accident. It could not be established why or how he fell.
77 years self employed farmer He was found lying in a field with multiple injuries after a cow attacked him. He had entered the field to feed a calf, which was not suckling. The calfs mother attacked him as he attempted to administer colostrum to her newly born calf. He received rib and spinal injuries in the attack and became tetraplegic. He subsequently died in hospital from pneumonia.
67 years self employed farmer He was crushed when the tractor he was using to compact a rubbish tip overturned. The tip area was at the bottom of a bank and was on soft, unconsolidated ground. It appears he was running tractor backwards and forwards across the top of the bank/tip area. At some point the tractor moved off the level section and onto the slope moving sideways across the slope. The lower wheels sank into the mud, causing the tractor to topple over, landing upside down. The driver was trapped below the tractor and was unable to get out. Tractor was fitted with a loader but not with a roll bar or cab.
35 years - employee He drowned when his boat overturned. The boat carrying a tonne of fish and a feed cannon and was traveling around a headland between cage groups when it overturned, throwing him into the water. His life jacket did not inflate and by the time help arrived he had disappeared beneath the water.
Scotland West
22 years employee and 62 years self employed farmer Two men were killed when they entered an underground slurry store to rescue a heifer. The liquid manure storage system was located under a slatted concrete floor beneath the cattle shed. There was a mixture of slurry and silage effluent in the store. No assessment had been made of the risk of asphyxiation or of being overcome by toxic gases and no personal or respiratory protective equipment was used. Pending the outcome of the inquest, it is not known whether the men drowned, were asphyxiated or were overcome by toxic gases.
56 years self employed arborist He died when he fell from a ladder leaning against a tree. He had placed the ladder against another tree approximately 2.5 metres from the tree to be felled. It appears he was attempting to attach a rope to the dead trees branch in order to control the direction it would fall after it had been cut. Ladders were still in place against the tree after the accident it is unclear how he fell.
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