Farm safety: Is there a level playing field for women?
© GH Photos/Alamy Stock Photo Farm safety has become a much-discussed topic in recent years, and with good reason.
Despite numerous safety campaigns, agriculture statistically remains the nation’s most dangerous industrial occupation. What is perhaps less discussed, though, is how this record affects women specifically.
It is true that men are more likely to be killed on farm, with 20 of the 21 people who lost their lives at work in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors in the year 2022-23 being male.
Men also register more frequently in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) statistics on non-fatal injuries, making up 539 of the 690 reported incidents during the same time frame – though this data only includes employees and it is estimated that around half of such injuries go unreported.
Despite this, research carried out by Farmers Weekly as part of the Level The Field campaign has revealed there are certain areas where women – and men of a certain size or with a disability or illness – are put at a disadvantage when it comes to on-farm safety.
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Machinery
One such area is around the use of machinery and equipment.
Although the almost 1,500 women surveyed by Farmers Weekly at the end of 2023 believed practical work was one of their key strengths, 43% said they could not use the machinery and equipment in their workplace with ease, compared to just 15% of the men who responded this way.
In many cases, women said the tools they were required to use were “designed for men”. That could include taggers, equipment needed to put up electric netting, or seat settings in certain pieces of kit, to name just a few.
One participant of a subsequent focus group put together by Farmers Weekly said: “Even though I’m 6ft tall, even though I’m well built, my hands, my wrists and my feet are all still women’s size.
“I feel like sometimes everything built on a farm is man size, for man hands as well. My hands have got a lot thicker and stronger, but they’re still woman’s hands, so there’s some things that are very difficult.”
Shafts
Other tasks women said they routinely found difficult were handling pto shafts, hooking implements up to tractors, or rolling back sheets on corn trailers.
A focus group participant said: “The buttons or the carlers that you get on pto shafts, sometimes you just haven’t got the hand strength to pull it back and release it to go on the shaft on the spline.
“I’ve always made it quite obvious how I’ve never been able to do pto shafts, but [farm managers] always seem to forget it.
“And they say ‘we just thought you could do it because the lads do’. So you do feel really awkward and you do feel like a problem.”
Another said: “That’s definitely true. Sometimes you feel like a problem when you ring up and say ‘I need help with this’. It is a recurring issue.”
Struggles
The participants said they spoke to other women openly about the struggles they faced performing different tasks, and would share “workarounds” with each other, which are sometimes potentially dangerous.
These could include using a quad bike to pull open a heavy door, for example.
All participants agreed they had engaged in more risky behaviour than they would do ordinarily in a bid to avoid calling someone for help with a task they found difficult.
Though the number of men and women who say they would be prepared to take a risk on farm is roughly similar, at 22% and 21% respectively based on 2023 Farm Safety Foundation data, details are lacking on what the drivers of that willingness to take a risk are, and whether they are the same for both sexes.
The Farm Safety Foundation survey also showed women are less likely than their male counterparts (25% versus 37%) to do a risk assessment before taking on a new job.
Again, there is no further information on why that is the case, though women do receive less training than men on how to deal with risks (42% versus 52%).
Size matters when it comes to protective clothing
One area where women are likely to face difficulties is in finding appropriate workwear or personal protective equipment (PPE).
This could include anything from suitable trousers, to calving gloves, to dust masks, to high-visibility gear, which in some cases can fall below the knees.
Ironically, ill-fitting PPE can actually pose its own health and safety risks.
Ami Sawran, a farm vet from the VetPartners group, explained she had struggled for years to find steel toe-cap shoes below a size six.
“They didn’t seem to make them in the UK,” she said. “I’ve always had to import them from China in the past.”
Stephanie Berkeley, manager at the Farm Safety Foundation, told Farmers Weekly PPE had been designed and manufactured for a male workforce, based on outdated data gathered from military personnel studies carried out in the 1950s and 1970s. “A lot has changed in the past 50 years,” she said.
“With a growing number of new entrants being female – 26% in the 16-24 age range – ensuring they have the option of properly designed PPE and clothing is vital.
“Narrower shoulders, more room in the chest, shorter torsos and wider hips. These all need to be taken into account.
“Gloves are another area where the differences are small, but meaningful. Women typically have smaller hands, narrower fingers and different finger length proportions compared to men.
“These differences make a very strong case for clothing and other PPE equipment to be tailored for the shape of women’s bodies.
“One size does not fit all and we can’t keep sizing down. PPE manufacturers need to step up and offer products that will keep all farmworkers safe and comfortable on the job.”
A question of sanitation
Protecting female health and hygiene on farm with proper sanitary facilities is another area where improvements can be made.
Multiple women have told Farmers Weekly about the difficulties they face when needing to use the toilet at work, with facilities either dirty, lacking bins for sanitary products, or simply non-existent.
Providing appropriate toilets can help to prevent infections, which are more common in environments with dirt, animals and exposure to various elements, as well as improving productivity and efficiency among staff.
Cheshire dairy farmer Karen Halton made the decision to offer separate male and female facilities after noticing a “difference in toilet behaviours” between the men and women on her farm.
She supplies tampons, sanitary pads, facewipes and deodorant in the toilet for female workers on her farm, and a drawer in the kitchen provides all the workers with paracetamol, ibuprofen and antihistamines if needed.
Cost is minimal and Karen will often bulk buy when visiting her local wholesalers for ease.
“These little things combined can be the difference between a person doing a really good job and not having to worry about pain or feeling uncomfortable,” she said.
“In an industry where we struggle to find good workers, offering something as basic as this can be the difference in them staying with you or moving elsewhere.”