Strengthening farm health and safety knowledge and innovation systems

SafeHabitus will make farming a safer occupation. Farming is amongst the most dangerous jobs in Europe. European statistics show that the fatality rate in farming is 233% higher than other industries and the accident rate is 18% higher. These figures underestimate the scale of the problem as a significant proportion of farm workplace fatalities, injuries and ill health go unreported, un-investigated, and prevention approaches are not learned. Improving farmers’ and farm workers’ health and safety requires action by a range of stakeholders to empower and support them to change unsafe practices and adopt new, safer and healthier ways of working. SafeHabitus is a multi-actor project that has come together to strengthen Farm Health and Safety Knowledge Innovation Systems (FHS KIS) and support the EU transition to social sustainability in farming. Our premise is that driving health and safety on farms is not about dissemination but changing habitual practices. To achieve this, SafeHabitus applies a range of novel methods; digital story telling methods with people who experienced accidents; application of the multi-actor approach to co-design farm work risk management tools; foresight analysis; analyses of consumer willingness to pay for food production that protects health and safety; bench-marking policies and elite interviews with policy makers. Our consortia include end-users, stakeholders and researchers in case study Member States. These work together in ten national COPs covering a representative variety of countries and sectors. SafeHabitus also engages with European bodies and stakeholders who provide critical bridges between EU and national / regional actors and who can influence EU policy such as the Geopa (Copa-Cogeca), CEJA, EFFAT, Oxfam, SVLFG, and AEIDL. This multi-level and transnational approach will allow SafeHabitus advance safer practices on farms across the EU.