DEAR EDITOR,

As we reflect on another farm safety week, no doubt we will be admonished by a lot of people working in offices about not farming safely, taking risks and getting injured. More will wring their hands and offer deep concern. But these platitudes, as Joe Lycett would say, doth butter no parsnips. Because in the real world, risk and variability are ever present, particularly in farming.

Sure, farmers need to be informed of hazards that might not be obvious, made aware of common misconceptions of risk and, where possible, helped in the management and control of that risk. But without giving farmers the resources required, both time and money, accident numbers are not going to budge.

Also, the focus should be as much about performing the task at hand well, as on what could go wrong. Safety is, essentially, a by-product of doing other stuff well. There is very little to be gained by simply telling farmers to just stop taking risks, or always avoid all hazards.

You might as well tell us to avoid carbon dioxide when breathing. For real safety benefits, farmers need to be given the training and resources required to do the job properly, as well as support to managing health and risk – not lectures from pampered elites. I understand that in Sweden, they provide a farm support service which provides farm visits by safety engineers, as well as health checkups every second year.

They also conduct research through the Farmers Health Organisation, which develops information materials that are available to farmers in pamphlets and at meetings, but also, most effectively, during checkups and farm visits.

Research findings are also used to lobby manufacturers and dealers of farm machinery in order to improve the work environment – actual tangible measures that show they care about the people who risk their lives to feed them.