Hosted by the Hodgson family who farm at Tarporley, Cheshire it featured interactive briefings on mental health, cattle handling, fire safety, essential first aid, transport and vehicle legislation, working at height and keeping the public, including children, safe on farms.
The event was held as part of Yellow Wellies Farm Safety Week (22-26 July).
The 2024 campaign is a special one as it marks 10 years of the Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), a charity set up by NFU Mutual to raise awareness of, and challenge attitudes to, farm safety and poor mental health in the industry.
Vital health and safety advice
Phil Hodgson, who hosted the event, said: “Health and safety is really important, so it was great to host this event on our farm with the NFU and Cheshire Young Farmers and it was superb to see so many people here.
“It’s so important to host events like these to try and help prevent accidents before they can happen and also hopefully will save a life.”
NFU Cheshire County Chair Alistair Dobson joined one of the groups that toured the various presentations.
He said: “It’s so encouraging to see so many young farmers attend this event. It was great to share experiences and learn from each other.
“I hope everyone will pick up some vital health and safety advice to take back with them to their farms.”
Reset moment
NFU Deputy President David Exwood said the NFU is proud to support Farm Safety Week.
“We’ve now had 40 years where the fatality numbers have hardly changed – this must be a reset moment for improving safety in our sector,” he said.
“Fatigue, familiarity with procedures or hectic schedules are not excuses. We have to stop the culture of risk-taking and make farm safety our number one priority. Because ultimately, everyone deserves to come home alive and well at the end of each day.”