Vital farm safety messages have come into sharp focus during the busy harvest season says Zoe Leach, East regional director for the National Farmers' Union (NFU).

Farm safety will remain at the forefront of farmers’ minds after some excellent work from NFU members and staff to raise awareness of its importance in recent weeks.

Farmers across the region are out bringing in the harvest, working long hours, to deliver food to our plates and so we felt it important to offer advice and support to keep everyone safe, especially during this busy period.

The NFU hosted several on-farm safety events for members across the East region, including in Norfolk and Suffolk, and it was pleasing to see they were well attended, with much positive feedback from those involved.

This year’s Farm Safety Week took place last month and this highlighted some of the key challenges farmers face every day. 

Many farmers posted videos on social media, offering safety tips and advice, while pushing the need for farmers and the public to not take unnecessary risks when on farms.   

With busy days ahead it reminded us that, while we cannot eliminate risk completely, we can minimise it and learn from every near miss to improve working practices. 

The 2024 campaign marked 10 years of the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), a charity set up by rural insurer NFU Mutual to raise awareness of, and challenge attitudes to farm safety and poor mental health in the industry. 

The unpredictable aspects of farming, such as livestock and weather, together with long hours and working alone, mean that staying safe can be challenging but we must find ways to reduce the number of accidents on farm. 

One accident is one too many.  

Every fatality and serious injury has a devastating impact on those families and businesses involved and while farmers are making important changes all year we encourage them to inspire and learn from each other, to protect their businesses and, ultimately, to protect themselves.  

If we are serious about making long-term improvements to farming’s safety record then we need to recognise potential issues and for everyone to take extra care, even when doing a job they have done a hundred times before.  

Of course, we feel every week should be Farm Safety Week and change can only be achieved if every person involved in farming puts safety at the forefront of everything they do. 

We all have a role to pay – let’s start making a difference.