People working on the land in the UK suffer the worst rate of fatailites of any UK sector. Nearly one person a week is killled while working and the incidence of work related disorders is among the highest too.

Agriculture has one of the worst fatal accident and occupational ill health records of any major employment sector. While the industry accounts for only 1.7% of the workforce in Great Britain it accounts for 16% of the fatal injuries to workers (latest 2005-06 statistics) and has a prevalence rate of self-reported illness which is significantly higher than the average for all industries

We are going to first look at the fatalities and where they are most likely to occur.

Then we will examine the sorts of diseases that can be picked up while working with plants and animals. This will cover

• Occupational asthma
• Dermatitis
• Zoonoses
• Noise
• Musculo skeletal