IOSH has been sharing its work on helping to prevent injury, illness and deaths in the agricultural sector during a conference in Córdoba, Spain organised by the International Social Security Association (ISSA).
Alan Plom, Chair of IOSH’s Rural Industries Group, delivered a session during the conference outlining some of the initiatives IOSH is involved in, both in the UK and internationally, and how they can contribute to the ISSA’s World Prevention Strategy in Agriculture, Vision Zero – a campaign which IOSH has worked with ISSA to develop.
Vision Zero was launched by ISSA at the World Congress on Safety and Health at Work in Singapore in September 2017. The campaign strives towards a world of work without accidents and illness, based around ‘Seven Golden Rules’ to improve safety, health and well-being. Guidance to help apply these in agriculture was launched at the event. Over 500 organisations across the world have joined as partners, including businesses, universities, ministries, social security agencies and professional bodies.
As in other countries, agriculture continues to have the highest incidence of fatalities in the UK and England’s Farm Safety Partnership (FSP England) has set a target to reduce fatalities on farms by at least 50% by the summer of 2023.
The Partnership in England is supported by nearly 40 organisations and companies. Individual ‘partners’ have their own initiatives, networks and spheres of influence, but work together with the other national Farm Safety Partnerships and Regulators in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to maximise the impact of guidance and publicity – for example, during the annual Farm Safety Week, and after incidents or prosecutions.
Reflecting on the ISSA Colloquium, Alan Plom said:
“Our recent IOSH event was very timely as I was able to share these new ideas and approaches being advocated in the UK and Ireland with over 100 like-minded colleagues representing many other countries at the ISSA Colloquium in Córdoba.
“There are so many different initiatives going on around the World, and delegates were interested to hear about our own international activities and how [the IOSH Strategy]Work 2022 and our six priority topics for collaboration support the ISSA’s themes.
“We face the same difficulties in terms of changing the culture to improve safety in agriculture globally, and Cordoba was a useful opportunity to make many new friends who share the same vision – Vision Zero!”
