Incidents involving livestock were the number one cause of work-related deaths on British farms last year, the UK's safety watchdog has said.
Statistics show there were a total of eight such deaths on-farms across the country during 2022-2023, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Agriculture remains one of the most dangerous of all the main industrial sectors across the country.
Last year’s campaign by HSE focused on transport safety, and today (19 February) it has relaunched the campaign with new advice on working with livestock.
Adrian Hodkinson, agriculture lead at HSE, said: “Working with cattle and using vehicles are two very common activities in farming, but they bring with them a high risk of being very badly hurt.
“This campaign is focused on work with livestock and aims to stress how important it is to take sensible measures to keep animals and people apart."
There are sensible measures that can be taken to keep animals and people apart, HSE says, but handlers should be in good health, agile and have the physical ability to do the work.
Together, livestock and farm vehicle incidents account for around a half of all work-related deaths on British farms in the past five years.
A total of seventy-seven people lost their lives, with each death leaving a devastating legacy on families.
Hundreds more are hurt in incidents involving moving vehicles and cattle on farms. Incidents involving moving vehicles remains the leading cause of death over the last five-year period.
Mr Hodkinson said: "We’ll be continuing to highlight the key things for safe use of farm vehicles in and around the yard and sheds, but also out in the fields when checking, feeding, moving and caring for your herd.
“For example, ATVs are commonly used on livestock farms. HSE has looked at the reported incidents and many show the user was doing something in relation to farming the animals at the time of the overturn or crash.
"That’s why we are looking at raising awareness of both cattle safety but also farm vehicle safety," he said.
Agriculture consistently has a high rate of fatal and serious injuries of all main industry sectors in Britain.
Over the past five years, the average fatal incident rate is twenty-one times higher in agriculture than the average across all other industries.
The HSE said this was a 'shocking statistic', adding that it was "time for us to make a change together".
