AGRICULTURE still has an unenviable reputation as one of the most dangerous jobs.

One person dies in a farming accident each week, according to figures from the Health and Safety Executive.

Officials from the HSE, the National Farmers' Union, Freight Transport Association, and five other organisations have launchd a series of new guidelines entitled Safety on Farms - A Joint Responsibility.

It follows a report which showed 53 people died in accidents on farms in 2001, including two men in horrific accidents in North Yorkshire.

A 67-year-old farmer at Thixendale, near Malton, was killed when he was run over by his tractor after leaving it parked on a slope. The handbrake was later found to be defective. At Chopgate, near Stokesley, a 51-year-old farmer died after suffering a broken neck when he was pulled inside the rotating auger of a combined harvester.

John Micklethwaite, the HSE's acting principal inspector, said: "Safety is one area that affects us all and we can all do our bit to diminish risks of accidents and injuries in the farm environment, which is where all these organisations operate."

The guide is aimed at farmers and growers, people who periodically work on farms, drivers who collect and deliver farm goods and others making commercial visits.

John Littlefair, a prominent member of the NFU in the North-East, helped draw up the new guidance. "It is drawn from the experience of the eight sponsoring organisations and, if followed, should help to ensure that farms are safer places for those who live and work on them and for those whose business takes them on to farms," he said.

The new guide was launched at Askham Bryan College near York.