Dumfries farmers highlight dangers of agriculture during Farm Safety Week

Today is the last day of Farm Safety Week, an annual initiative that aims to reduce the number of dangerous incidents which occur on UK farms.

Dumfries farmer David McMiken lost a family friend to an agricultural accident earlier this year. He says that the incident has focused him and his team of more than 30 people on health and safety at work.He said: "Farming is a very closed community so obviously it sends shockwaves throughout that community. We are all guilty of thinking that it will never happen to us, but accidents can happen, they have happened in this area over the last 12 months.”

Jo Kemp has also been a farmer in Dumfries and Galloway for years and has seen the industry evolve throughout her life.

She said: "The spotlight needs to be on keeping Scotland's farms safe this summer. We used to have people working with us, we used to have at least one other person or a team, now people are going out on their own.

"They need to leave a message to say where they are going to be. The phone is useful but you don’t always hear it in a tractor, tractors turn over, people fall off roofs and if you are on your own you have pretty well had it.” 

Farmers in the south of Scotland are now dealing with more financial and time pressures due to the impact of Covid, Brexit and now the war in Ukraine.

Another area of concern that Dumfries farmers have pointed out is the risk of livestock for hill walkers this summer and added that caution is needed especially around bulls and rams.

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