FARMING leaders have pledged to improve the safety of people working in the agriculture and forestry industries.

The launch of their Farm Safety Charter follows a ground-breaking industry summit held last year to find tangible ways of bolstering farm safety and reducing deaths and injuries.

And it comes just a day after a major farming company, Velcourt Ltd, was fined £120,000 for safety breaches that led to the death of 21-year-old Northallerton man Edward Pybus.

He died four years ago while working on a farm in Wiltshire - killed when the combine harvester he was working on touched overhead lines carrying 11,000 volts.

The charter is the brainchild of the Country Land and Business Association working with other land-based organisations.

CLA president and North Yorkshire landowner William Worsley said yesterday: “In 2010, agriculture became statistically the most dangerous industry in the country.

“Over the past 10 years, 455 people have died on British farms and in other land-based enterprises. This equates to almost one death every week. In the same period, a further 1,700 people were seriously injured.

“These figures should be a wake-up call for everybody involved in farming.”

He said it was time to drive down the number of preventable deaths and avoidable accidents by providing practical advice, training and guidance on how farms could be made safer.

“This charter is important because we now have a mandate to bring about a real change in the culture, attitude and behaviour towards farm safety,” he said.

“We are committed to raising awareness of the risks and dangers that affect people working in what are often difficult and unpredictable situations.

“We need to demonstrate that a good safety record is proof of a professional and modern industry, because behind these shocking statistics are the personal tragedies of hundreds of families who have suffered the needless loss of a father or son. We need to do better.”