Twenty-one workers were killed in farm-related incidents in Great Britain during the last year, according to new figures by the UK's workplace safety watchdog.
The industries with the highest deaths were construction (45), agriculture, forestry, and fishing (21), manufacturing (15), and transportation and storage (15), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said.
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing has the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers of all the main industrial sectors followed by waste and recycling.
The annual data release published by the HSE covers the period from April 2022 to March 2023.
The three most common causes of fatal injuries are falls from height (40), being struck by a moving object (29), and being struck by a moving vehicle (20).
The total of 135 worker deaths in 2022/23 is higher than the previous year (123) but is in line with pre-pandemic levels. The figure for 2020/21 was 145.
A further 68 members of the public were killed following a work-related incident in 2022/23. This is a decrease of 20 from last year.
HSE’s chief executive Sarah Albon said: “Any loss of life in the workplace is a tragedy.
“While these figures show Great Britain is one of the safest countries in the world to work, safety must continue to be at the top of everyone’s agenda.
“Our mission is to protect people and places and we remain committed to maintaining safe workplaces and holding employers to account for their actions.”
HSE has also published the annual figures for Mesothelioma, a cancer caused by past exposure to asbestos. The figures show 2,268 people died from the disease in 2021.
This is a fall of 302 compared with the 2,570 deaths in 2020 and substantially lower than the average of 2,520 deaths per year over the period 2012-2019.
