A campaign has been launched to reduce farm vehicle deaths in Lancashire and across the North West.

Vehicles play a vital role in farm work but incidents involving vehicles are the number one cause of deaths and serious injuries on British farms.

Incidents involving moving vehicles have been responsible for 30 per cent of all fatalities on farms over the past five years, that’s 48 lives lost in incidents that have destroyed farming families. 

In the North West, three people have died after being hit by moving vehicles in the past five years – they include Harry Lee, who was killed after being run over by a tractor at his family’s farm in Newchurch-in-Pendle in 2019.

Then in 2021, a 23-year-old farm worker was killed when a tractor tyre exploded. Josh Hardman was struck by an object during the tyre explosion while working at a farm in Preston in May 2021.

And in another incident, 63-year-old self-employed farmer, Frank Whitfield was killed when a tractor rolled over his leg at a farm in Lancaster in June 2021.

Hundreds more people are hurt in incidents involving moving vehicles on farms every year. 

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Britain’s workplace safety regulator, is calling on everyone in the farming community to do what they can to reduce the number of injuries involving vehicles and save lives. 

HSE is this week launching a farm vehicle safety campaign and has created a website which brings together lots of great advice on using vehicles safely on farms. 

HSE says there are three pieces in the vehicle safety jigsaw: operating a safe farm, maintaining a safe vehicle and being a safe driver. 

Together, these pieces will help to keep everyone on farms safer. If one piece is missing, the risks increase. 

Sue Thompson, HSE’s Head of agriculture policy, said: “We want to make 2023 a safer year on our farms by working together to prevent injuries and deaths.  

“Agriculture consistently has the highest number of fatal and serious injuries of all industry sectors in Great 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. That is a shocking statistic.  

“It’s time for us to make a change together to make our farms safer, and that’s why we’re asking farmers in England, Scotland and Wales to consider three areas of their daily farming activities and take the right actions to prevent another farming tragedy.

 “With significant pressure on British farmers now, we want to support the farming community to show that safety on the farm doesn’t need to be difficult or expensive. There are simple steps you can take today to help keep you and everyone on your farm safe. 

“Farmers and farm workers should take a moment to think about what would happen to their families and their farms if they were seriously injured and unable to work.  

“When people on farms start their daily routine, they should follow our safe farm, safe driver, safe vehicle advice to help plan the job and complete it safely.”