Health and Safety
Executive / Commission
Agriculture
In 2000, the Government and HSC set national targets for health and safety improvements by 2010 as part of ‘Revitalising Health and Safety’ (RHS). The RHS indicators have been adopted as part of a new Public Service Agreement (PSA), committing HSE’s parent department, the Department of Work and Pensions to:
The PSA is underpinned by a number of targets including:
to be achieved by 2007/08 against a baseline of 2004/05.
Following a review in September 2004 the delivery of the PSA targets would in future be addressed by two strategic programmes: “Fit for work, fit for life, fit for tomorrow” (Fit 3) and “Major Hazards”.
“Fit 3” based on an analysis of injury and ill health data across known hazards and sectors, in businesses large and small, is designed to reflect more clearly the link between programme activity and intended outcomes. More focussed on delivery, it allocates resource to what works and scales back activities that make lesser contributions towards the PSA targets.
The Agriculture industry’s contributions to Fit3 is largely through the ‘Injury’ and ‘Ill-health’ programmes. The agricultural community’s central point of contact and liaison with the Fit 3 programme and its component programmes will continue to be the Agriculture & Food Sector.
Previously, as part of its response to delivery of the RHS strategy, the HSC’s Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee (AIAC) consisting mainly of representatives from the social partners, the National Farmers Union (employers) and the Transport and General Workers Union (employees) agreed that the industry should seek to make the following contributions to the RHS targets:
The AIAC was reconstituted in April 2005 with a wider membership from organisations and individuals with influence in the industry and is to revisit these in the light of the HSE’s new three-year PSA targets.
HSE’s vision is for an industry which:
The following is a summary of the ten-point strategy for agriculture:
HSE ’s priorities and approach to agriculture are to:
Transport related deaths continue to account for a significant percentage of all agricultural fatal accidents.
To reduce the number of transport-related fatalities and major accidents arising from work activities in line with PSA targets by raising awareness of maintenance and human factors issues and, in particular, by promoting the introduction of inspection and testing schemes.
Falls from height continue to be one of the main causes of death and serious injury in agriculture. Over the last 10 years falls have accounted for 18 per cent of all fatal accidents in agriculture making this the second largest category of fatal accidents in the industry. Common factors included working on fragile roofs, the use of inappropriate or defective access equipment and failing to use equipment safely.
To reduce the number of fall related fatalities and major accidents in agriculture, in line with PSA targets.
The self-reported work-related illness survey of 2001/02 revealed that people who had worked in agriculture in the last 8 years had, at 38 per 1000, the highest incidence rate of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) of any industry.
Straw polls of farmers attending Safety Awareness Days found that around 80 per cent admitted to having a 'bad back'.
Much of the MSDs in farming arise from historical sources of tasks requiring prolonged manual handling of heavy loads. Through mechanisation, the level of regular manual handling of loads has significantly reduced. However, farm work continues to require significant amounts of disparate, irregular handling of loads, many of which have the potential to reactive a worker's previous injuries.
According to RIDDOR, current sources of MSDs in agriculture reside mainly in horticulture and fruit and vegetable sectors. Whilst this may just be a reflection of better reporting by larger employers, work in these sectors still involves significant levels of repetitive manual handling.
To reduce the number of musculoskeletal injuries caused by manual handling in agriculture by.
Limited research has been carried out to establish the level of stress in the rural community but all the available evidence points to high levels of stress amongst many farmers, farm workers and their partners, particularly in the wake of BSE, FMD etc. Both DEFRA and HSE plan to carry out further research over the course of the year.
Farmers account for the highest rate of suicides in any working group and are twice as likely to commit suicide as members of the general public. Suicide is the second most common cause of death in male farmers under 45 years of age. Suicide may be seen as the "tip of the (stress) iceberg".
For a variety of reasons, farmers do not readily seek help when in trouble but usually rely on their self-sufficiency to get them through a crisis. Consequently much of their stress is undiagnosed and, more importantly, untreated until well advanced.
The causes of stress in the industry are numerous but mostly recognised as being exogenous or outside of the control of the individual. Such stressors include financial pressures, form filling, changes in legislation, disease, geographical and social isolation and the weather. Other stressors may be completely unrelated to work e.g. family and personal relationships.
The evidence suggests that stress is a consequence of taking part in the industry and not, in the vast majority of cases, of the way that work activities are organised or managed. Therefore stress in agriculture does not seem amenable to HSE's conventional management control of tackling it in the workplace. However there will be some employment businesses where the conventional approach may be appropriate
To reduce the level of work-related stress and its consequences in the agricultural community. by extending our knowledge of the problem and promoting and supporting local initiatives designed to help farmers and farm workers cope with the demands of working in the industry.