A safety campaign launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) with the aim of preventing deaths and serious injuries on farms will benefit everyone connected with the industry, especially farming families, the NFU said today.

The HSE has launched the ‘Make the promise. Come home safe’ campaign in a bid to reduce the number of fatal accidents on farms. The campaign asks all farmers to make a promise - to come home safe.

NFU vice president Paul Temple said: “Any death is one death too many, yet all too frequently someone dies in a farm accident. These accidents destroy lives, whole families and often farm businesses.

“This campaign is of massive importance to the farming industry. Anything that raises awareness of the dangers farmers and farm workers face and helps identify the activities where farmers are most at risk can only have a positive impact.

“We hope everyone in rural areas and those involved in farming get to know about the campaign, talk about it and spread the message. It is in everyone’s interest, farmers, farm workers, their families and friends, to make the working environment as safe as possible. As it says in the campaign slogan, we want everyone to ‘Come Home Safe’,” he said.