The Health & Safety Executive has issued its annual report into workplace fatal injuries in the UK, which reveals that farm fatalities have fallen to the lowest rate on record.

The report outlines that the number of fatal injuries in agriculture, forestry and fishing in 2019/20 fell to the lowest level on record (20), from an annual average of 27, but notes that the sector still accounts for around 20% of all workplace fatalities.

Stuart Roberts, deputy president at the National Farmers Union, said: “While these figures show an important drop in fatalities they still indicate that there’s significantly more to do. Last year we lost too many of our family, friends and colleagues in the workplace – one fatality is too many.”

Mr Roberts added: “For the past few years we have seen many in the industry consciously prioritising health and safety and I hope these figures indicate the start of a downward trend which is underpinned by a culture change in the agriculture sector.

“There will be variations year on year and we need to see longer-term sustained improvement before we can say that farm safety has fundamentally changed.”