The drive, named the Yellow Wellies campaign, is to be spearheaded by an image of a pair of yellow wellies, with “Who will fill your boots?” being the question asked to those in the farming sector. It’s hoped that the provocative angle will catch people’s attentions and help to make farmers more cautious while operating machinery and carrying out day to day activities.

Presently, only 1.5 percent of workers in the UK work in the farming industry, but a harrowing 15-20 percent of workplace fatalities takes place in agriculture.

The recently launched Farm Safety Foundation will work with the NFU, Farm Safety Partnership of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, farming organisations and farmers in an effort to quell the number of serious accidents and deaths in what is currently the most hazardous occupation in the country.

NFU Mutual is optimistic that in the next five years the number of severe and fatal accidents will fall, but they acknowledge that changing a culture can be a long process.

Corporate social responsibility manager and trustee of NFU Mutual, Rob Jones, said: “The foundation aims to establish itself as a leading authority on farm safety, raising awareness in the farming and agricultural community to the seriousness of farm accidents and the devastating impact they can have on families and businesses.”

Mr Jones pointed to the construction industry an example that agriculture should be following, saying: “The construction industry has been very successful in minimising the number of accidents in their sector and it would be great to see a noticeable and clear reduction in farming accidents and deaths over the five-year period of this campaign.”

Dumelow International, one of the biggest sellers of reconditioned tractors in the UK, backed the study. A representative said:

“We fully support this campaign. We’ve long argued that more attention and resources are needed to tackle the issue of serious injuries and deaths in the agriculture industry and we’re happy to see that more organisations are tackling the subject head on, taking the proverbial bull by the horns and setting substantial targets for both the short and long term.

“The fact that they’re looking at how the construction sector has tackled the problem is also promising as there’s a lot that can be learned from the huge reductions in injury and fatality rates in construction.”

With decades of experience and a large team of specialist engineers, Dumelow International is one of the top reconditioned tractor specialists in the UK. The company launched in 1996 and is known for delivering refurbished Massey Ferguson tractors as far afield as Africa, Asia and North America. Their online shop, and more information about the company, can be found at www.dumelow.co.uk.

For quotes, contact John at Dumelow International on 0118 9487000 or john@dumelow.co.uk.