n By Keith Hatch


Everyone expects to come home after work in one piece, but for workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing the reality can be more worrying.


The latest sobering health and safety executive (HSE) figures showing, “Agriculture has the worst rate of worker fatal injury* of all the main industry sectors” with farmworkers also 21 times more likely to be injured.


The HSE’s Agriculture, forestry and fishing statistics in Great Britain, 2024 shows that, in agriculture, forestry and fishing, there were 23 fatal injuries to workers and four to members of the public over the 2023/24 period.


The figures show the “fatal injury rate in agriculture, forestry and fishing is 8.23 per 100,000 workers,” and “around 21 times the all industry rate.”


When it comes to non-fatal injuries the sector, also has above average figures. The HSE said that for the period 2019/20 - 2023/24 there were an estimated 8,000 workers who reported sustaining a workplace non-fatal injury.


This equates to “around 3.1 per cent of workers in the sector sustained a workplace non-fatal injury”. This figure is nearly twice the rate for workers across all sectors, which was 1.7 per cent.


These HSE statistics cover last year, but 2024/25 is not looking good either, with the farming press and local media covering many stories of accidents on farms that have resulted in farmworkers losing their lives.


For example, in April 2024, a farm worker was trapped and killed by agricultural machinery on a farm near Truro, and in July a farmworker was killed when his tractor overturned on a slope on a Dorset farm.


In Northern Ireland, three farmers died over a four-week period last summer in accidents on farmland, though perhaps the most tragic accident last year was that of a 10-year-old boy from Lancashire who was crushed by a quad bike after taking it out without his parents’ permission on the family farm.


The issue of child safety on farms is something that Unite has often raised, suggesting that the UK’s agricultural industry is lagging behind other areas when it comes to regulations protecting children on farms.


Nor does the high number of recorded fatalities tell the full story, as there are areas where agriculture deaths are not included in the figures.


One of these is suicide among farmers and farmworkers, which can often be traced back to the stress of the job and other work-related factors.


Figures from the Office for National Statistics say that 62 farmers died by suicide in England and Wales in 2023, and when the ONS says farmers, it combines a number of occupational groups including farmworkers, agricultural machinery drivers and managers in agriculture and horticulture.


Unite has long been calling for the HSE to be given the power to investigate all suicides where work is a factor in someone taking their own life.


In May 2023 Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “The failure to fully investigate the reasons why workers in all sectors are taking their own lives is a scandal.”


The general secretary went on to say a full investigation was needed to ensure the necessary reforms to save lives could be implemented.


To support members feeling high levels of stress, anxiety and depression which can lead to mental health problems, Unite recently started the United Minds campaign.


The campaign offers tools and materials to assist reps in negotiating better management processes around mental health and stress issues in the workplace.


John Burbidge sits on the HSE’s Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee as a Unite representative.


John said, “It is over 50 years since the Health and Safety at Work Act was introduced, and agriculture is the only British industry that has failed to significantly reduce its death and serious injury figures.”


Unite has raised concerns that the sector remains at the top of the grim table of workplace fatalities due to a failure of the government and Defra to make the regulatory changes necessary, and to fund appropriate training and certification across the sector.


The union has also condemned 14 years of massive cuts to the HSE, and Unite’s Executive Council recently agreed to “campaign for the reinstatement of routine on-farm inspections and the restoration of funding levels that enable the HSE to effectively perform its mission, particularly with regard to agriculture.”


11 uniteLANDWORKER Summer 2025 ‘‘


It’s often said union workplaces are safer workplaces and we must continue to organise around health and safety in agriculture. This means increasing the number of trained Unite health and safety reps


Paul Travers, Unite national officer


John highlighted another area not counted towards the current statistics, that of road deaths, something that concerns Unite. The HSE does not include road casualty figures involving agricultural vehicles from agricultural industry deaths, though they are included in other sectors.


John said, “The inclusion of such vehicle related deaths would increase the number of fatalities significantly.


“Defra, the HSE and the insurance industry must re-align agricultural training and proficiency certification in every sector of agriculture equivalent to other industries as a matter of urgency as a first step to reducing agricultural accidents.”


Unite national officer Paul Travers said that the latest figures were “extremely concerning”.


Paul said, “These figures show the dangers that workers in the sector face on a daily basis. It is often said that union workplaces are safer workplaces and, as a sector, we must continue to organise around health and safety in agriculture.


“This means increasing the number of Unite trained safety reps and ensuring they can talk to members about their concerns.”


John added, “In the past the union has pressed for roaming agricultural safety reps, to no avail.


“As a sector we need to encourage all branches to have a fully trained Unite health and safety rep that can support members and offer advice and guidance on safety concerns at work.”


*(per 100,000 workers) from hse.gov.uk/agriculture-fatal-injuries-2023


Alamy


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