Farm industry leaders pledge to reduce death and injury toll

CLA President William Worsley will tomorrow (Wednesday, 18 May) join other industry leaders in pledging to improve the safety record of people working in agriculture and forestry.

The launch of the Farm Safety Charter follows a ground-breaking industry summit held last year to find tangible ways of bolstering farm safety and reducing deaths and injuries.

Mr Worsley said: In 2010, agriculture became statistically the most dangerous industry in the country. Over the past 10 years, 455 people have died on British farms and in other land-based enterprises. This equates to almost one death every week. In the same period, a further 1,700 people were seriously injured. These figures should be a wake-up call for everybody involved in farming.

Mr Worsley said the organisations involved in land-based industries had now joined forces and were committed to working together to bring about improvement.

He said it was time to drive down the number of preventabledeaths and avoidable accidents by providing practical advice, training and guidance on how farms could be made safer.

The CLA President added: This Charter is important because we now have a mandate to bring about a real change in the culture, attitude and behaviour towards farm safety. We are committed to raising awareness of the risks and dangers that affect people working in what are often difficult and unpredictable situations.

We need to demonstrate that a good safety record is proof of a professional and modern industry, because behind these shocking statistics are the personal tragedies of hundreds of families who have suffered the needless loss of a father or son. We need to do better.

I am determined the CLA will help provide the clear leadership needed so that, working together, we can take positive steps to bring about a lasting improvement in the industrys safety performance.

• Land-based industries involved in the Farm Safety Charter include the CLA, NFU, LANTRA, AIC, a and TFA.
• The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has around 35,000 members.
• As a membership organisation, the CLA supports landowners by advising them on how best to protect and maximise their asset: the land. We are dedicated to supporting landowners and their businesses. Our success is measured by how effectively we do that. We have a team of experts in London and a regional structure able to give local support.
• We have been looking after the interests of our members, as well as promoting the positive aspects of land ownership, land management and rural business activities for the past 100 years. CLA members own or manage approximately half the rural land in England and Wales, and the resulting expertise puts us in a unique position to formulate policies and lobby effectively.
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