Perhaps more so than in any other industry, the consequences of an accident on a farm can be catastrophic, not only in terms of the sometimes appalling nature of the injuries, but also economically speaking. This is because, in the UK, most farm operations are family-run micro businesses or are operated by other self-employed people and when injury strikes a one man band or very small group of workers, an enormous chunk of productivity and critical expertise disappears into hospital with the injured person. It can be enough to bring some farming concerns to their knees or, if they are already struggling with low or erratic income, finish them off entirely.
Bearing in mind the disproportionate amount of devastation one person getting injured at work can wreak on a farm business, it can initially seem inexplicable as to why the industry as a whole allows its lamentable record in health and safety to persist, and over recent years, to actually get even worse. Some farmers would argue that in an industry with fewer farm workers having to work increasingly longer and more arduous hours just to keep the business from going under, taking the time to engage with workplace health and safety just doesn’t make economic sense to them. If they suffer an injury severe enough to curtail their farming career they will simply sell their farm and live out their days in other employment or on state benefits.
Farming as a community can appear rather insular and old attitudes, such as that towards health and safety, entrenched and hard to change. An unfortunate example of this reveals itself as a further consequence farm work related injuries. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) strongly suspect such farming injuries to be enormously under reported due to the following factors:
• Familial ties and loyalty and a desire to uphold the good reputation of the family and the business.
• Farm labourers not wanting to sour relations with their employer by insisting on health and safety issues being addressed or reporting shortcomings to the HSE – even if they have been injured as a result and might be entitled to make a claim for compensation (which they rarely do).
• Transient, casual and migrant workers not being aware of their rights within health and safety regulations and without sufficient experience to differentiate good from bad working practices or recognise the numerous hazards presented by a farm environment and the work itself.
The upshot is that farm workers injured through no fault of their own have become something of a hidden problem in the industry, suffering their injuries in high numbers and even more unacceptably, in silence.
Farm Accident Compensation Claim? We can help
If you have suffered an accident whilst working on a farm which was down to your employer’s failure to protect you, you could be entitled to make a compensation claim for damages. Our experts can advise you on how to claim compensation, so:
- Call 0800 1404544,
- Or email our compensation claim solicitors using the contact form today.
