STEPHANIE BERKELEY, MANAGER, FARM SAFETY FOUNDATION
Each summer, Farm Safety Week returns with a familiar and sobering focus: the number of lives lost on our farms. These figures matter deeply and should be a moment for us all to stop and reflect as every life lost is a tragedy that ripples through families, businesses and our rural communities.
Stephanie Berkeley, Manager, Farm Safety Foundation
But there is another story. One that is quieter, less visible and too often overlooked – the story of those who survived.
This year, we are asking the farming industry to widen its lens. Because while fatalities rightly demand attention, serious injuries are leaving thousands of people with lives permanently altered and we are not talking about that nearly enough.
Farming continues to have the poorest safety record of ANY occupation in the UK and Ireland. The statistics, stark as ever, show farm workers are far more likely to be killed at work than those in other sectors. Yet beyond these headlines lies a far larger reality: thousands of workers are living with work‑related ill health, many caused by musculoskeletal disorders, and thousands more have suffered injuries that will stay with them for life.
These are not minor injuries. On a farm, there is no such thing as a paper cut!
A fall from height, a crush from machinery, an incident involving vehicles or livestock – any one of these can change the course of a life in seconds. Not always fatally, but often permanently. Chronic pain, reduced mobility, disability or the loss of a livelihood are the consequences many face.
And the impact rarely stops at the victim.
Families have to adjust. Farms have to adapt. Businesses can struggle to survive. Communities feel the strain. The true cost, both human and financial, is far greater than we often acknowledge.
There is a difficult truth at the heart of this issue. Many farmers know the risks they are taking. They are experienced, practical people. But there remains a gap between understanding risk and feeling its consequences. Research suggests that serious injury is not always fully considered in day‑to‑day decision‑making, even though it may be feared as much as, or even more than, death itself.
That disconnect matters.
Because safety is not just about avoiding the worst‑case scenario. It is about preventing harm in all its forms. It is about recognising that “walking away” from an accident is not always the same as being unscathed.
Near misses deserve more attention than they often receive. They are not lucky escapes to be brushed off and forgotten. They are warnings – clear signals that something needs to change before the outcome is far worse next time.
This is why the focus of this year’s Farm Safety Week feels important. It challenges a long‑standing misconception that only fatal injuries matter. It asks us to look again at what survival really means and to understand that living with the consequences of a farm accident can be just as devastating.
If we are truly serious about making our farms safer, we must broaden the conversation.
We must take injuries as seriously as fatalities. We must value prevention over reaction. And we must bring the human stories behind the statistics into the open – not to alarm people but to connect with them. Because connection is what changes behaviour.
When people can see themselves, their families and their futures in these stories, safety becomes real. It moves from something abstract to something real and relatable.
According to Wayne Owen, HM Inspector of Health and Safety (Agriculture): “Farm Safety Week provides an important opportunity to highlight both the safety and health challenges faced by those working in agriculture. Farming remains one of the most vital industries in Britain, but it also continues to have one of the poorest health and safety records.
In 2025/26, 29 people lost their lives in agriculture, forestry and fishing, including seven members of the public, three of whom were children. The continued loss of life, particularly the deaths of nine children on Britain’s farms over the last five years, is both tragic and unacceptable. These are not inevitable accidents; many result from risks that could and should be controlled, with vehicles, machinery, falls, animals and falling objects continuing to be the main causes of fatal incidents. Meaningful and lasting improvement will only come through a significant cultural change across the industry – one that starts on every farm and with every farmer. Health and safety must be at the heart of everyday decision-making, with everyone taking personal responsibility for protecting themselves, their families, their workers and members of the public.
HSE will continue to work with industry partners, including the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), but real progress depends on the industry leading the change that is so desperately needed. Together, we can create a safer and healthier future for farming, ensuring that everyone returns home safely at the end of the day”.
Farm Safety Week will, as ever, bring our industry together to reflect, talk and to act and that action is what matters most. Because on farms, as in life, survival should not be the only measure of success. Preventing harm in all its forms is the goal we should all be working towards.
And it starts with recognising that not all tragedies make the headlines.
