AN agricultural risk expert is urging farmers to be vigilant after three people were killed on farms in the north west in the past 12 months.

Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have revealed that in 2016/17, agriculture had the highest rate of fatal injury, around 18 times higher than the All Industry rate.

In total, 30 people have been killed on British farms in the past year – making agriculture the riskiest industry to work in.

The main causes of death were ‘struck by vehicles’ (30 per cent), ‘trapped by something collapsing’ (20 per cent), ‘struck by an object’ (17 per cent), ‘contact with electricity’ (10 per cent), ‘falling from a height’ (seven per cent), and ‘injured by an animal’ (seven per cent).

Richard Wade, of Lycetts Risk Management Services, said: “It is worrying that agriculture remains one of the most dangerous industries, with the high fatality rate far-exceeding other industries.

“HSE’s research shows that vehicle-related activities consistently lead to more deaths than any other category, and that half of the workers killed by something collapsing were taking part in activities involving vehicles and machinery.

“So, while some of these deaths had been the result of freak accidents, many could have been prevented. Although this is a sad fact, this gives us hope that with better practice on farms and safer use of machinery, incidents like this could become rarer.”

“It is also promising to see that, although the fatal injury rate for agriculture has shown no clear trend over the past 35 years, there are signs of improvement over the past five years.

“Hopefully this is down to farmers being more vigilant about safety and risk assessments – but we still have a way to go.”

Agriculture has a 7.61 fatal injury rate per 100,000 workers – six times that of the construction sector.

While 27 of the past year’s deaths involved workers, three were members of the public.

The age of the victims varies hugely, with the youngest being three and the oldest, 80. The youngest worker to be killed was 18.

Nearly half of the workers killed in agriculture were over 65 (13 out of 27 deaths) and more than 85 per cent of workers killed were over the age of 45.

In the north west, there have been three deaths in the past year.

A 28-year-old self-employed contractor was killed when unloading sand using his vehicle crane when it hit an overhead power line. He was electrocuted.

A 78-year-old self-employed partner in a farming business was killed when run over by his own tractor. He was inside a farm building by the side of the tractor, either adjusting the load or attempting to start the engine. The tractor started, or moved forward in gear, crushing him. The handbrake was off.

A 57-year-old employee was killed when struck by a tractor. He stepped out of a calf shed into the path of an oncoming tractor and trailer. He was knocked to the ground and died of his injuries.

Richard added: “What strikes me is the high death rate of older workers. Health and safety is a fundamental requirement of any farming operation, no matter how small or well-established it is, and minimising risk should be top priority.

“It is also alarming that self-employed farmers make up a large proportion of deaths; 67 per cent - 20 out of 30 – of those who died on farms were self-employed, whilst 23 per cent were employees and 10 per cent were members of the public.

“There is a danger that farmers who work for themselves harbour a perception that they do not need to carry out the necessary risk assessments or abide by the health and safety regulations, as they don’t have any employees. But, as this research shows, this can have devastating consequences.

“It may also be a case of farmers, due to economic constraints, are having to manage difficult and labour-heavy jobs by themselves or with limited resources – and are therefore putting themselves at increased risk.

“It is imperative that farmers take health and safety seriously and do their utmost to protect themselves, their employees and the public, as well as procuring comprehensive insurance cover in case a tragic incident like this does occur.”

The figures for 2016/17 are provisional, covering the period between April 1 2017 and March 31 2017. For information on keeping your farm safe, visit hse.gov.uk/agriculture.