Written question asked by Huw Irranca-Davies (Labour) on Wednesday, 9 November 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 November 2011. It was answered by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Monday, 21 November 2011 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Industrial Health and Safety: Farms

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to promote health and safety on farms.

Answer: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) actively promotes health and safety on farms through a programme of farming Safety and Health Awareness Days (SHADs) in England, Scotland and Wales. SHADs are half day training events based on practical demonstrations of everyday hazards faced by farmers, farming families and workers. The events target family farmers, the self employed and those employing up to four people.Formally, HSE promotes health and safety in the industry through the work of its Agriculture Industry Advisory Committee. This committee provides a mechanism for bringing together and consulting with the industry and for helping to set priorities to promote the attitudinal and cultural changes required if there is to be sustainable improvement in the industry's health and safety performance.Additionally over the past 12 to 15 months, HSE has been working in partnership with the key industry stakeholders and among other things, is supporting the Farm Industry Safety Partnerships led by the National Farmers Union (NFU) and the similar group in Wales led by NFU Cymru. These partnerships are actively developing a range of activities and initiatives to promote health and safety through their respective memberships.

Secondary information