Warwickshire farmer who lost arm calls for better safety in UK's most dangerous job
A farmer from Warwickshire who lost his arm in a machinery accident has called for better safety measures in what figures suggest is the UK's most dangerous line of work.
Figures from the Health and Safety Executive show one in every five workplace deaths in the UK happen on farms.
35 people lost their lives on UK farms in 2023-24.
"Why aren't we learning from this?"
James Chapman works as a farmer in Long Itchington in Warwickshire. He lost his left arm in just a matter of seconds in 2005 after his jacket got caught up in a pto shaft.
James said: "When I was in hospital a vicar came to see me and he looked at me and he said 'are you are a farmer' and I said 'yes I am'.
"He said 'was it a pto shaft?' and I said 'yes it was, how do you know that?' and he said 'because you're not the first and unfortunately you won't be the last'.
"That really stuck with me. Why? Why am I not the last? Why aren't we learning from this?"
Pto shafts are used to attach tractors to pieces of farming equipment, can rotate at speeds of up to 1000 rpm, and are known as health risks as limbs, hair, or clothing can be caught up in the rotating part of the machine.
The farming sector accounts for just one per cent of the working population, but is responsible for 20 per cent of all deaths in the workplace.
27 deaths were recorded in Great Britain in 2023-24, with 8 more people injured in Northern Ireland.
"We can't let this continue"
During Farm Safety Week, people in the industry are trying to reduce the number of accidents which contribute to farming's poor safety record.
A Farm Safety Foundation survey carried out in September 2023 found 88% of UK farmers believe 'complacency' is a major contributing factor to farming accidents.
Stephanie Berkeley, Farm Safety Foundation Manager said: "That's the attitude of 'I've always done it that way' or 'it costs too much' - those aren't good enough excuses for us having lost 27 people [in Great Britain] in an industry in only one year.
"The UK recorded a total of 35 farm-related deaths over the past year including two children. 35 families and communities devastated by the loss of a loved one. We can't let this continue.
"Attitudes and behaviours around farm safety are changing but too slowly for the families of those we have lost in the industry and too slowly for the thousands of farmers suffering every day with long term ill-health or serious injuries as a result of their work."
The Health and Safety Executive announced in May it would stop farm inspections, arguing they haven't had made a big impact in the decades they've been used.
NFU Mutual recorded 937 farm accident claims in the UK in 2023-24, down from 1,021 in 2022-23.
Causes of the accidents included falls from height, trapped body parts, and falling objects, all of which cost the rural insurer over £68 million.
James urged his fellow farmers: "Please take your time when doing things, take ten seconds out of your life, take a deep breath, look at what you're going to do and think 'how can this go wrong?' because in farming it's more likely to go wrong than in any other industry."