Life-changing injuries are big fear for farmers

The Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) is calling on the agricultural industry to shine a light on an often‑overlooked reality.

While fatalities rightly demand attention, serious injuries on farms are leaving thousands of lives permanently changed every year.

Behind these statistics are families struggling to cope.

placeholder image — Behind these statistics are families struggling to cope.

The 14th Farm Safety Week from July 20 to 26 focuses on the long‑term, life‑changing consequences of serious injuries which farmers, workers and families must live with – long after the headlines fade.

HSE data shows farming remains the industry with the poorest safety record with high levels of both fatal and life‑changing injuries.

Wheelchair farmer Mike Nixon was paralysed when he fell 28ft through a shed roof but it hasn't stopped him doing the job he loves.

In 2025/26 alone, 22 workers lost their lives on farms in Scotland, England and Wales.

The figures also reveal that workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing are around seven times more likely to be killed at work than those in construction and a staggering 21 times more likely than the all‑industry average.

This year the sector has recorded one of the highest numbers of fatalities in over a decade.

However, thousands more farm workers are also suffering injuries and ill health that fundamentally alter their ability to work, live independently and enjoy family life.

Wheelchair farmer Mike Nixon, who was paralysed when he fell 28ft through a shed roof, will feature in a video this week to promote Farm Safety Week's message.

Latest figures show around 9,000 workers in the sector are suffering from work-related ill health, with 67 per cent linked to musculoskeletal disorders, while an estimated 8,000 non-fatal workplace injuries have occurred over the last five years.

According to NFU Mutual, the UK’s leading rural insurer, farm accident claims fell marginally from 894 in 2024/25 to 868 in 2025/26.

Yet behind every statistic is a person, and often a family, dealing with the aftermath of an incident that does not have to be fatal to be devastating.

A new survey of farmers and agricultural workers carried out by the Farm Safety Foundation from May to June revealed the biggest fear on UK farms is not dying in an accident – it’s surviving one with a life-changing injury.

Stephanie Berkeley, Farm Safety Foundation manager, said: “When we talk about farm safety, fatalities understandably dominate the conversation but serious injuries can be just as life‑changing.

“The reality is there is no such thing as a papercut on a farm and the margin between a near miss, a serious injury and a fatal incident is often frighteningly small.”

A fall from height, an encounter with machinery, a vehicle incident – these don’t always result in death but they can leave someone living with chronic pain, reduced mobility, disability or an inability to continue working.

That impact doesn’t stop with the individual; it affects the family, the farm business and the community as a whole.

Stephanie added: “If we are really serious about making our farms safer, we must broaden the conversation.

“We must take injuries just as seriously as fatalities and recognise that preventing harm, not just death has to be our goal. We must also bring the people behind the statistics into the open, not to alarm but to connect because connection is what changes behaviour.”

Farm Safety Week 2026 will challenge the long-standing misconception that only fatal injuries matter.

Across the week, the charity will work with farmers, families, industry bodies and the wider rural community to encourage reflection, conversation, education and, perhaps most importantly, action.

The message is a simple one: on farms, injuries do not have to be fatal to be life-changing.

For more information on this year’s campaign visit www.yellowwellies.org or follow @yellowwelliesUK on Instagram/Facebook/X using the hashtag #FarmSafetyWeek