Stay Safe...

This is a difficult post to write but one that's too important not to.

News broke last week of the death of a family friend on a farm in South West Scotland. A man in his mid-50's with a young family who was involved in a tragic accident during a routine job on the farm. This follows on from the desperately sad  news of a toddler death at a farm in Devon in the same week.

I won't go into the details as it would be fair on anyone involved but these two cases add to the already shocking fatality rates in the industry.

Farming remains the second most deadly industry in the UK behind the construction industry with 22 deaths. Machinery, livestock and working in isolation mean the risks are plenty.

It's all too easy to forget the dangers of farming whilst going about our daily lives. We tend to normalise them as we face them every day. I for one have been in the situation of 'just wanting to get the job done'. It's all too easy to cut corners or do something we know we shouldn't when time isn't on our side.

Please don't.

For the sake of yourself and everyone around you, please stay safe out there. Just take a moment to think before acting or entering a situation. Use your common sense and experience to err or the side of caution.

Because, as an industry, we don't need any more numbers adding to an already grim set of statistics.

Stay safe.

Until next week....