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UK News - Breaking news in the field of health and safety
Transport-related accidents remain the biggest cause....
Transport-related accidents remain the biggest cause of fatalities on UK farms
In the North & West Devon and Torridge area an ATV inspection blitz of almost 90 farms earlier this year led to the issue of 25 Improvement Notices and one Prohibition Notice where there was an immediate risk of serious injury. HSE believes, with some justification, that these spot-inspections, which found that many of those farms visited were using quad bikes without proper safety equipment or training, can prove effective in reducing injury. Another farm transport blitz campaign is on the horizon, this time in North Devon and West Somerset, with a week of unannounced inspections starting on December 6th, but this forthcoming blitz has widened to incorporate all farm vehicles. The focus on ATV safety will remain on training and the provision and use of protective headgear, whilst the focus with other vehicles will be on driver competence and vehicle maintenance. During the period 2003/2004 there were 3 fatal agricultural accidents in the South West region: employee, 31, ejected from cab when his tractor overturned on slope in South Devon; self-employed farmer, 35, ejected from cab when tractor overturned on slope in Taunton Deane; self-employed farmer, 39, crushed when tractor rolled on gentle incline, handbrake not fully engaged, in Dorset. "Fatalities on farms remain at a high level and around one third of those fatal accidents involve transport. There are many ways in which farmers and their employees can address these issues and take some simple and inexpensive steps to help prevent these tragic accidents occurring." - HSE inspector leading the blitz
