§ 62. Mr. John Ellisasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he is satisfied with provisions made for safety of young persons engaged in agriculture especially in regard to schoolchildren.
§ Mr. John GrantI cannot be satisfied as long as young persons are involved in fatal accidents on farms. Ways of improving standards of health and safety are always being considered and the statutory provisions are kept continuously under review by the Agriculture Inspectorate of the Health and Safety Executive.
The agricultural health and safety regulations and the general duties provisions of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 enable the Agricultural Inspectorate to maintain high standards on farms in Great Britain. Much of the educational and advisory effort of the Agricultural Inspectorate is devoted to the safety of young people when working on farms, and in May a special publicity campaign is being mounted with the co-operation of schools throughout the country in connection with EEC Farm Safety Week which has as its theme "Children and Machinery".
The Health and Safety Commission is advised by its recently appointed Agricultural Industry Advisory Committee comprising six representatives each from the employers' and workers' unions.