The morning everything went wrong

Cornish Mutual’s Head of Technical Development Paul Mahon outlined how agriculture employs 1% of the workforce but accounts for around 20% of workplace injuries. Worse still, fatalities are 21 times higher than the ‘all-industry’ rate, and “riskier than construction.”

Reinforcing this, Chartered Legal Executive and Claims Technician Nick Lay confirmed these figures are borne out in the claims he handles:

“Regularly we hear about accidents on farms where employees or visitors to the farm have been injured. And those injuries can range from something relatively minor, right up to life-changing injuries. It's an issue that's not going away in agriculture.”

A life-changing story

To illustrate just how life changing it can be, dairy farmer Fred Collins explained the horrific accident he suffered.

He described his farm as “quite old fashioned”, with him trying to do as much of the work himself as possible to reduce costs. The day of the accident “everything went wrong” but the picture he painted is one not unfamiliar to many farmers.

“I had a puncture. I ripped the valve off. I was scraping up quite a big tractor, which I shouldn't have run on the yard scraper, and I ripped the valve off the inner tube. I was trying to repair that, and I was rushing around because time was short.

“[The tractor] slipped off the jack when my arm was underneath the wheel. When I was putting the new inner tube in, I was trying to feed the valve up through, and then all of a sudden, I just heard a thud.”

Somehow Fred didn’t lose his hand, but he did end up with “six plates and 37 screws.”

He admitted it happened because he was busy, in a rush and cutting corners:

“When you've got a lot on in a day and you haven't got much time to do it. And the last thing I want is to be here at 10 o'clock at night.”

The weeks following the accident were hard. Fred struggled with being a ‘patient’ and slept badly, saying it “messed me right up.” He found himself waking up “still thinking about it” and suffered a sensation not unlike ‘phantom pain’ as he slowly regained the feeling in his fingers.

Business impact

Fred also had to reassess his immediate business objectives. Having money saved to spend on farm infrastructure, the plans for a new parlour were abandoned as employing outside labour became a necessity.  

His attitude to safety changed too: “I've slowed down a lot. I used to rush around and flap. Occasionally, I get a bit like that, but I've sort of slowed right down. I'm thinking twice now.

“Not just jacking the tractors up, but all of it. I'm not as risky at doing stuff as what I would have been before, I suppose, because once you've been through something like that, it soon changes things.”

And he said he hasn’t really needed to change anything around the farm. He had the correct equipment; he just needed to use it:

“That was the annoying thing, I already had these axle stands and usually I'd use them. Because I was rushing that day, I didn't use them, and I should have done. The worst thing is they were within meters from where I was working.”

Planning to increase resilience

Having listened to Fred’s story, Nick underlined his was one of the commonest types of on-farm accidents. Most fatalities and serious injuries involve being struck by a moving vehicle, particularly ATVs, and falling from height; fragile roofs posing a “real issue.” 

Despite being known to be dangerous, risks continue to be taken. Looking to manage these risks, Paul stressed the link between business resilience and having health and safety plans in place, to: “enable farmers to take a more proactive approach rather than reactive, I think that leads to more control and that can then lead to greater peace of mind which can only help resilience.”

Nick agreed, adding: “It's about looking after yourself and those important people around you and then being able to spend the time and energy focusing on the other parts of the farm.”

Nick and Paul’s health & safety tips:

1. Start with some easy steps:

-   Use farm walks and farmer-focused events to learn how other farmers are addressing health & safety

-   Set reminders on your phone or put a note on the fridge to make sure vehicle and equipment checks aren’t overlooked

-   Have a sticker in the tractor cab reminding drivers to use ‘safe stop’

2. Set aside time to carry out proper risk assessments – make it a habit when planning jobs

3. Slow down and take the time to think things through

For more on health & safety and our services, visit Farm Health and Safety.

Listen to the full episode below - also available via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

NB. The Health & Safety Executive publishes figures on injuries and fatalities in agriculture every year. The statistics discussed in this episode are from the early 2020s, but the latest HSE figures remain similar.