The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is inviting local agricultural workers from Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire to attend a farm safety day in Wisbech with a focus on preventing agricultural deaths.
Agriculture is one of Britain's most dangerous industries and the event will address a wide range of topics designed to help the workforce ensure their safety.
Last financial year saw one person killed and 40 injured on farms in Cambridgeshire. In Norfolk, one person was killed and 64 injured, while in Lincolnshire one person was killed and 82 were injured.
The major causes of deaths in Britain's agriculture industry last year were dying in accidents involving overturning vehicles or being struck by vehicles which accounted for 34 per cent, accidents involving moving or fallings objects (21 per cent), falls (14 per cent) and injuries by animals (seven per cent).
The safety day follows the launch of HSE's new Make the Promise - Come Home Safe campaign. Farmers and farm workers are asked to make a simple promise to come home safe. They are given a green 'promise knot' to position somewhere memorable on their farm, such as a gatepost or fence, as a small reminder.
HSE principal inspector David Head said: "Year on year, over the last ten years the number of injuries in agriculture has remained at a consistently high level. These accidents don't just destroy lives, they destroy whole families, and often their farms too.
"The latest statistics highlight the dangers and in these difficult financial times, farmers and workers might be tempted to take risks by cutting back on help or taking shortcuts to save money. We want to make farmers, their families and agricultural workers stop and think how they can be aware of the dangers around them."
The farm safety day will be held on March 14 at the Wisbech campus of the College of West Anglia.
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