Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps the Health and Safety Executive has taken to help reduce the fatality rate in agriculture.

The fatality rate in agriculture is a concern to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which has a long-term strategy to drive industry ownership of the challenge and influence behaviour.

Since 2018, HSE has run an annual programme of delivering training to farmers in advance of targeted proactive inspection. This sits alongside specific interventions on the management of cattle and, during 2022/23, the management of electrocution risk from overhead power lines.

HSE continues engagement activity with a full range of stakeholders through the Farm Safety Partnerships. The latest activity includes work on child safety, management of cattle in fields with public rights of way, farm transport and the safe use of quad bikes. HSE also regularly holds formal consultations with the industry about its initiatives through the Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee.

HSE publishes an annual report detailing the main causes of fatal incidents in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Great Britain. The report covering the period of 2021/22 is available via HSE’s website.

The table below shows the number of agricultural inspections* conducted by HSE in each of the last five annual reporting periods (figures available from HSE systems as yearly figures):

*Figures have been provided for agriculture inspections. The number may include a small number of non-farm premises.

**HSE systems able to generate figures for each calendar year e.g., 2018 rather than work year e.g., 2017/18.