Take Five to Stay Alive

NFU launched its ‘Take 5 to Stay Alive’ campaign last month, and David Brookes from Lower Loxley Farm - and NFU West Midlands regional board chairman - reminds us of the importance of staying safe and well when farming.

With harvest well under way, the NFU is reinforcing its latest health and safety campaign message to help protect farmers, their families and staff during what is a busy, but vital, time in the farming calendar. The NFU launched it’s ‘Take 5 to Stay Alive’ campaign, working with the agriculture industry to change attitudes towards farm safety and prevent life-changing and fatal accidents.

The campaign, which supported Yellow Wellies’ eleventh Farm Safety Week back in July, encourages everyone working on a farm or in an agricultural setting to take a fiveminute pause and think about the task in front of them, and the safety precautions they could take before starting it. Actions include everything from remembering to put on your seatbelt and engaging the Safe Stop principle when using a vehicle, to wearing a helmet when riding an ATV or staying vigilant when working at height or with livestock.

People are our most valuable assets, and we should all be thinking about our safety on farm 365 days a year. Yellow Wellies’ Farm Safety Week was an excellent way for us to come together, raise awareness and share practical advice about how to look after ourselves and each other out in the field. We all have to talk more about safety.

The new campaign, ‘Take 5 to Stay Alive’, gets to the core of this year’s theme of ‘Farm Safety Starts with Me’. We all know the main causes of on-farm accidents but by taking a few seconds to think before we start a job, it gives us a chance to put in place those small, cost effective, life-saving actions which can stop tragic incidents from happening.

Five minutes or even five seconds could save a life or stop a life-changing accident. By making this small behavioural change, we are protecting the most important part of our businesses - ourselves. I hope you all have a safe, productive and successful Harvest 2023.