A risk management specialist is urging the region’s farmers not to relax safety standards after official figures revealed a drop in the number of fatalities in the British agricultural industry – with six deaths across the South West.

Latest figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that 25 people were killed in the agriculture sector in 2021/222 – 16 fewer than last year.

Alex Cormack, of Lycetts Risk Management Services, said: “This drop in fatalities is to be welcomed. But, while it is encouraging news, I would urge those who work in the industry not to become complacent.”

Fatal injuries were most commonly caused by people being struck by moving vehicles.

This was followed by being struck by an object, contact with machinery, falls from height and animal-inflicted deaths. The latest figures suggest considerable progress in agricultural risk management since the early 1980s, when there were around double the number of fatal injuries.

This year’s total number of fatalities, which includes three members of the public, is the second lowest number of deaths recorded in the last five years.