The number one cause of work-related deaths on British farms were incidents involving livestock.

Statistics released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) indicate that the trend was responsible for eight fatalities last year, with approximately half of all work-deaths on British farms being attributed to livestock and moving vehicle incidents in the past five years.

A total of 77 lives were lost as a result of livestock or moving vehicles over the past five years.

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HSE has relaunched the Your Farm, Your Future campaign, which centres on the hazards associated with livestock.

Following last year’s focus on transport safety, the campaign provides new advice on safely handling animals.

Adrian Hodkinson, agriculture lead at HSE, said: "Working with cattle and using vehicles are two very common activities in farming, but they bring with them a high risk of being very badly hurt.

"This campaign aims to stress how important it is to take sensible measures to keep animals and people apart."

His suggestions include maintaining safe farm equipment, ensuring handlers are healthy and agile, and assessing the animal.

He added: “Agriculture consistently has a high rate of fatal and serious injuries of all main industry sectors in Great Britain.

"Over the past five years, the average fatal incident rate is twenty-one times higher in agriculture than the average across all other industries.

"That is a shocking statistic and sadly the impact on every affected farm is huge."

The new advice and checklist for working safely with livestock is available on the campaign website.

Mr Hodkinson concluded: "Farmers and farm workers should take a moment to think about what would happen to their families and their farms if they were seriously injured and unable to work.

"When people on farms start their daily routine, they should follow our advice to help plan the job and complete it safely.”