In agriculture the HSE estimate that the costs to industry were around £191m in 2019/2020 with:
- 19% or £36m carried by employers
- 21% or £40.11m carried by the government
- 60% or £114.6m carried by individuals
Total costs include financial costs and human costs. Financial costs cover loss of output, healthcare costs and other payments made. Human costs are the monetary valuation given to pain, grief, suffering and loss of live.
More information on the cost of injury and ill health to Great Britain is available on the HSE website in their documents Health and safety at work: Summary statistics for Great Britain 2020 and Agriculture, forestry and fishing statistics in Great Britain, 2020.
Avoidable accidents
Many farming accidents are avoidable and measures to either remove hazards completely or to control risks of harm where hazards can not be removed are very often, easy to implement and cost effective.
Wearing helmets
Following safe stop, using seat belts, wearing high viz, and using a helmet every time a quad is used are easy to do and cost at most £45. Is £45 too much to spend to help improve safety on farms in the UK by up to 30%?
You can make a difference
Make a pledge and share any safety stories you have – just use #FarmSafetyWeek when you tell your story.
How are you going to make safety a priority on your farm? Hear what our Student and Young Farmer Ambassador @josietroop98 is pledging to do this #FarmSafetyWeek. Let us know what you are doing by commenting below ?? pic.twitter.com/tuWaMVMzJr
— National Farmers' Union (@NFUtweets) July 21, 2021
Further information
More from NFUonline
- See how you can make a difference during Farm Safety Week 2021
- Working hours: How to get the right balance
- Read our analysis of HSE's fatal accidents report for 2020/21
- Follow the advice on our Health, wellbeing and safety pages.
- Contact NFU CallFirst team for help and advice.
More from the net
- Visit HSE's About health and safety in agriculture pages.