The last few years have proved challenging for the farming industry and research by several organisations shows that stress, depression and anxiety among farmers and agricultural workers is a growing concern.
A recent survey of 15,296 farmers across England and Wales by the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI) found that 36% of the farming community across England and Wales were probably or possibly depressed.
Mental health can affect worker safety. Even if no actual illness is diagnosed, it’s easy to imagine how a worker’s mental state might affect his or her ability to make good decisions and recognise potential hazards. Poor concentration, tiredness or low interest can lead to mistakes and are often found to be a factor in workplace accidents. Typically, short cutting of regular tasks is seen, such as conducting ‘Safe Stop’ when exiting from tractors. These short cuts are resulting in increased near miss reporting and unfortunately, accidents.
It is essential that everyone involved in British agriculture recognises and responds to the signs of work-related stress so that dealing with it becomes routine and common place.
Where to begin?
Reach out: make time to reach out to the people you work with and check in on how they’re feeling and coping. Starting the conversation isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it and is an important first step.
Recognise: if you recognise someone is struggling, encourage them to talk about it. Keep an eye out for signs of stress such as someone seeming more withdrawn, sensitive, or aggressive.
Respond: having positive relationships and good support is key to helping people to cope when demands and pressures start to feel too much. Other things to consider include how much control someone has over their work and if any recent changes could be impacting them.
Reflect: take a moment to reflect on this last year; the ups and the downs, what worked and what didn’t. Did you recognise and respond to the signs of stress in yourself and your teams as best you could? What could you do differently this year to better support your workers and make mental health a priority? Speak to your workers to get their ideas on what can be done to prevent, reduce or tackle any problems identified.
Make it Routine: The important thing is to make talking about stress and how people are feeling and coping a normal part of everyday working life. Take regular opportunities to check-in on mental health and stress, assessing the risks from any hazard is not a one-off process, things change.
Whether you’re a small family farm or a large multi-site producer, employers have a legal duty to identify risks and agree ways to prevent and manage work-related stress and support good mental health.
Find more helpful advice on dealing with stress & mental health at work Stress at work – HSE
