The farming industry accounts for 1% of the working population but an alarming 19% of all workplace deaths (HSE Fatal Injuries in Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing Report 2024/2025) Sadly, a total of 23 farm workers and 4 members of the public, 2 of whom were children, lost their lives on UK farms in 2024/2025.

Statistics are useful to give an idea of scale, but stories behind them remind us of the actual human impact.

Ed Caldwell is a third-generation farmer who nearly lost his life after an accident with an angle grinder while working in New Zealand. Quick thinking colleagues saved his life, but he and his family have carried the weight of the accident ever since. He says: “I love this job, it’s much more of a lifestyle than it is an occupation.” Ed shared his story for Farm Safety Week 2025, you can read the BBC article via this link.

James Bannister lost his arm in a potato harvesting accident in 1998, and has continued to work successfully as a contractor ever since, but he also dedicates a lot of his time to promoting the urgent need for attitude changes around farm safety. As he puts it: “I used to be blase about safety, but not now.” His experience highlights the real cost of complacency. Read his story in more depth via this BBC link

These stories help show that no task, however routine, is worth a life changing injury.

Farming is a unique and challenging industry. Long hours, demanding conditions, short windows of intense and time critical workloads, and the pressure to just “get the job done” often mean that safety is pushed down the list of priorities. For many, risk-taking becomes quite normal and that dangers and risks fade into the background. A strong safety culture is not about slowing down farming – it’s about making sure farmers can carry on the work they love doing without unnecessary harm. The culture around safety shapes whether safety precautions are followed or if they are ignored; whether people feel confident to pause, reassess, and stay safe; and whether the younger generations inherit safer habits or if they’re inheriting outdated risks.

Currently there are industry wide efforts to change this culture of complacency, such as Farm Safety Week from The Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) which was set up 13 years ago to raise awareness about farm safety and encourage safer working practices within the agricultural industry. The same organisation also launched the Mind Your Head campaign in 2018, to raise awareness of the growing mental health challenges faced by those in the agricultural sector.

Another campaign is Farm Safety Stars – a collaboration between Farmers Weekly and AgriKids, which aims to reduce accidents involving children, to encourage responsible handling, and help promote responsible safety culture right from the start of their farming journey. Children are invited to become farm safety ambassadors and learn through interactive quizzes, worksheets and certificates, building their understanding of hazards like machinery, livestock and chemicals, by using fun and age-appropriate tools.

Cultural change doesn’t mean overnight transformation, it begins with small practical steps.

• Pause before starting a job using the “take five” rule. A short “5 minute” assessment allows you the time to reflect to identify potential hazards and associated risks. Stopping to consider the task can prevent serious accidents.
• Talk about the near misses, sharing these experiences allows us to identify issues before they escalate. As always, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
• Lead by example, experienced workers have enormous influence over younger and less experienced colleagues, and as farming is often generational it’s key to ensure that good habits and a positive safety culture is passed down.
• Include everybody! Farm members, seasonal staff, and contractors should all be part of the conversation, giving them the chance to engage and it’s the only way to create a safer environment for everyone.

At Armour we actively use and promote the “take five” approach alongside providing both compliance and cultural support. Of course, it’s essential to follow laws and regulations, but it’s difficult to win hearts and minds when people don’t understand why they matter. When people understand why they should care and feel encouraged to speak out when they spot things going awry you have the foundation of a good safety culture.