NFU East Midlands Farm Safety Event | Wed, 2nd March

Farm safety will take centre stage at a high-profile, innovative event brought together by NFU East Midlands, Newark & Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society and Wilkin Chapman.
Open to members, their farm workers and neighbours, the free NFU East Midlands Farm Safety Event will feature a host of vital topics, live demonstrations and compelling talks to help you make informed decisions on how to approach safety on your farm.
It will take place at Newark Showground on Wednesday, 2 March from 10am to 4pm and has been brought together by NFU county advisers Andy Guy, Rhonda Thompson and Jo Musson, alongside NFU LAS panel firm Wilkin Chapman and hosts Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society.
According to the HSE’s accident statistics for farming, forestry and fisheries for the year up to March 2021, there were 34 deaths and 12,000 non-fatal accidents, with 11,000 workers suffering from work-related ill health.
“Farming is a dangerous industry with a very poor safety record – and farmers and agricultural workers are the people who can change that,” said Rhonda.
“The idea behind this event was to pull together the best farm and safety expertise into a one-stop shop, with the emphasis on it being accessible and informative.”
Andy said: “As a county adviser, you hear every year about farmers, members of their family or staff being injured or even killed in a farm accident. I feel a personal responsibility to members to help try and significantly improve that.
“This is not a formal conference – we’ll have demonstrations, talks and activities and a lot more besides on rotation throughout the day so you can dip in and out at your leisure.
Jo added: “A big part of this event is mental health, particularly prevalent after the tidal wave of issues faced by farmers in recent years, so we’re reaching out to members and their farm workers to come along.”
Among the live demonstrations taking place on the day is livestock handing by Nottingham Trent University Brackenhurst with commentary, working safely around farming equipment and mock accidents by students from Lincoln College. There are indoor sessions too, covering risk management with RMS, working safely with overhead power lines by Western Power Distribution and firefighter to farmer training with Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue.
Topics covered will include: wellbeing, mental health, working at height, machinery safety, overall farming safety, safe workwear/ PPE and much more. And these will feature: Risk Management Solutions, Lincolnshire Rural Support Network, Yellow Wellies, Wilkin Chapman, Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue and more.

Here's the line-up for the day:

BASIS and NRoSO points will be available. Those who register and attend the event will receive a certificate for their health and safety file and the first 500 attendees can claim a free bacon roll!

To register for the event, call 01572 824250 or email [email protected]