FARMERS are being urged to be vigilant after new figures reveal the extent of deaths within the industry.

Perhaps unsurprisingly due it its rural nature, Yorkshire and the Humber is the area where most people were killed on farms in 2017/18, with seven deaths.

This is equivalent to the number killed in agriculture in the North-East over the past five years.

The figures, released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) show that 33 people across Britain were killed in agriculture in the last year.

These findings have further cemented agriculture’s reputation as the riskiest industry to work in.

Farm-related deaths in Yorkshire and Humber in 2017/18 include an 81-year-old who was butted by a cow and died from serious internal injuries.

A four-year-old child died after being electrocuted by equipment in a caravan being used as an office and a 66-year-old self-employed farm partner was trampled by cattle.

Edmund Sword, of rural insurance specialist Lycetts’ Yorkshire office, said: “Agriculture’s high fatality rate significantly outstrips that of other industries.

“It is more than five times higher than the second most-risky industry, construction, which really drives home just how hazardous an industry it is.

“Farmers face potentially fatal risks on a daily basis, from working with unpredictable animals to potentially dangerous machinery, so protecting personal and employee health should be top priority.

“Sadly, members of the public, family members and children living on the farm also get caught up in incidents and account for some of the overall deaths.”

Of the 33 national deaths in the agricultural sector this year, four were members of the public, two of which were children.

This year the North-East had one of the lowest death rates in Britain, but Rupert Wailes-Fairbairn, of Lycetts in Newcastle said ‘one death is one too many’ and that farmers should ensure their health and safety policies are robust.