Farm safety highlighted

Farmers in Scotland are being warned they must ensure the safety of those on their premises, particularly children, as there is the risk of them suffering physical injuries.

The Health and Safety Executive is urging agriculture workers and parents to make sure minors are protected from potential dangers by ensuring sensible precautions are taken.

Cheryl Anthony, HSE principal agriculture inspector, believes visitors to farms must remember they are working environments and therefore contain risks for those on the sites.

She claims as many as 45 children and young people have died and more than 400 injured on farms in the UK over the last ten years.

"Tractors and other farm machinery are obvious dangers, and so is livestock. Climbing up ladders and onto bales of straw can lead to falls … and barns are often full of highly flammable material," Ms Anthony stated.

According to the HSE, agriculture accounts for one per cent of the workforce in Great Britain yet 16 per cent of fatal injuries to workers in 2005/06 came from the sector.