Are you adequately protected in the event of an accident on your farm?
Winter is knocking on our farm gates and as the days get shorter, the weather colder and wetter, the risk of an accident on the farm increases as well. It is therefore once again worth reminding our customers and members that agriculture by metric is one of the most, if not the most, dangerous industry to work in within the UK and sadly the fatality statistics are there to prove it.
Wales recorded 3 fatalities in 2021/2022 according to Health and Safety Executive figures, with 25 people killed in total across Great Britain. And whilst the right insurance cover might not be able to prevent accidents, it’s essential in protecting your business in the worst case scenarios.
FUW Group Managing Director Guto Bebb said: “Of course, the goal is always to implement good risk management practices and protocols to reduce accidents happening on farms in the first place.
“However, the uncomfortable truth is that accidents do happen, making it important for farming businesses to make sure they can evidence their risk management practices and have the support of a management liability policy like Rural Protect for when the worst does happen.”
In its technical form, Rural Protect is a Management Liability insurance policy that protects all individuals in the business and covers Personal Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Company Legal Liability and Family Legal Expenses. Rural Protect provides proactive tools to help prevent undesirable situations, but should the worst happen, also gives the insured access to rradar, a specialist litigation and commercial law firm financed by the policy.
rradar will act on the insured’s behalf in a whole host of scenarios such as accompanying them in a police interview, assisting when notifying regulators of an incident, or protecting against negative news and social media coverage.
rradar’s defence has already saved numerous businesses from claims costs they would have otherwise been liable for had they not been covered by Rural Protect.
FUW Insurance Services Limited Senior Account Executive Dafydd P Jones said: “It saddens me that despite efforts to highlight the dangers on farms time and time again, we have still not seen a noteworthy decrease in these figures and of course they don’t include the near misses and life changing injuries.
“Agriculture often sees farmers and farm workers working in solitude, challenging weather conditions and in stressful situations. The risks on farms are all well-known and readily managed, but all too often farmers and farm workers put themselves in situations where one slip can have life changing or even fatal consequences.”
Mr Bebb added: “There are too many people dying on farms across the UK, and I urge the industry not to be complacent – your safety and that of your family must be your priority but if the worst case scenario comes true having the right insurance in place should not be left to chance.
“Our claims teams see the results of accidents on farms on a daily basis and we see the impact they have on individuals, families and businesses. Thankfully on most occasions we’re able to respond and put things right for our clients. However there are times when problems do arise because either cover is not in place or is inadequate to cover the loss. Neither our farmers nor us want to be in that position.”