The accident risk for farm workers in Scotland
Three-quarters of Scottish land is set aside for agricultural purposes. In fact, it can even be said that the nature of the Scottish landscape is shaped by its farms. So it should come as no surprise to learn that Scottish agriculture is worth more than £2 billion annually, with £400 million being earned from food exports. Much less discussed, however, are the number of accidents suffered by Scottish agriculture workers, often of a kind serious enough for victims to contact personal injury solicitors.
There are around 67,000 workers currently working in farming in Scotland. This accounts for 6% of the overall rural workforce, making it the third biggest employer in rural Scotland. Only the service industry and public sector employ more people. Yet these figures fail to reflect just how big an employer agriculture actually is, as they do not account for the 10% of all Scottish jobs that rely on agriculture for their very existence.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report that in 2006 alone there were 45 fatalities in agriculture-related injuries in the UK. While the numbers have been steadily declining in Scotland for some time now, a quick look at the figures shows us that there have been nearly 100 agriculture-related deaths in Scotland over the past decade. And since one death is too many, it is clear that much work needs to be done.
Here are some of the most common causes of agriculture-related work accident death and injury:
- Tree felling accidents
- Exposure to chemicals such as pesticides
- Falls from height, particularly from fragile roofing
- Poorly supervised young and inexperienced workers
- Exposed and malfunctioning machinery
Recognising the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done to avoid the kinds of deaths and injuries that Scottish personal injury solicitors are all too familiar with, the HSE are always looking to find new ways to tackle the hazards inherent in Scottish farming. Their director in Scotland recently commented, "Farming, tree work and horticulture involve some of the highest risk jobs, so it's important that employers and employees know how to manage risks and prevent injury and ill health.
"The main causes of fatalities and accidents relate to transport, falling from height, livestock, contact with moving machinery and being struck by a falling object.
"A big part of the solution is to improve competence in risk management at all levels of the workforce, as well as focusing on the more traditional skills training. HSE has contributed to the development of industry-specific training in health and safety to help all those in the industry learn how to manage risk, rather than react to problems."
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