Twenty five people were killed in agriculture during the past year, an improvement from last year's total of 41, but the industry continues to have the poorest safety record in the UK.
Of the 25 people killed in England, Scotland and Wales in the past year, 22 were farm workers and 3 were members of the public including a 9-year old child.
The picture is similar in Northern Ireland where farming accounted for 6 of the 18 (33%) reported workplace fatalities in 2021/2022.
The figures have been released by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), as part of its Fatal Injuries in Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing in GB Report 2021/22.
But its release follows two recent tragedies which have shook the industry, including the death of a three-year-old boy who was killed by a tractor on Saturday (16 July).
Stephanie Berkeley, Farm Safety Foundation manager, said that despite an encouraging improvement in the HSE figures over the past year, these were "very sobering statistics".
"We must remember that these are not just statistics – behind every fatal notification is a worker, a visitor or a child," she added.
"We cannot become immune to the impact that each and every death has on farming families and communities across the UK and Ireland.
"Ten years after our first campaign, we cannot continue to accept that risk-taking is part and parcel of farming – we have to work harder to make it safer."
From 18 – 22 July, the Farm Safety Foundation is holding its tenth annual Farm Safety Week, a campaign encouraging farmers to make farms safer places to live and to work.
This week, the charity will highlight some of the key issues facing the farming community and spotlight the work being done to drive a change in attitudes.
Agriculture is different from many industries in that it can present hazards to people not actively involved in the industry, such as children and family members living on the farm and visitors, in addition to farm workers.
Hazards can also exist for vets, delivery workers and even the emergency medical services personnel, as they provide assistance and care to victims of farm incidents.
Awareness of farm safety is at an all-time high with 66% of farmers in the UK (80% of under 40s) aware of Farm Safety Week according to NFU Mutual’s Voice of the Farmer 2022 survey.
But Sue Thompson, of the Health & Safety Executive (HSE), said there were farming families "left devasted every year when their loved ones are badly injured or killed while doing their jobs".
"We are starting to see safety improvements in some areas, but the pace of change is slow, and the rates of workplace injury and ill health in agriculture remain the highest of any major sector.
“Everyone in agriculture has a role to play in making the changes we all want to see. Together, we can make farming safer.”
NFU vice president David Exwood said making a pledge during Farm Safety Week to upskill everyone’s safety training in a farm business would go a long way to improve safety on farms.
He said: “As an industry we are constantly learning, from each other and through innovation, and we need to ensure this mentality is applied to health and safety.
“Pledging to upskill ourselves, either through repeat or new training, is a simple and cost-effective way to increase awareness and better identify and manage risks on farm.
"By investing in ourselves and our learning, we are actually investing in our farm businesses as we are our most valuable asset, so safety has to be a top priority."
