Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps with the Health and Safety Executive to reinstate proactive inspections in the agriculture industry.

As an independent regulator, it is for Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to determine how to use its resources when considering how best to meet the objectives outlined in its ten year strategy Protecting people and places: HSE strategy 2022 to 2032.

For the agricultural sector HSE uses a range interventions to promote health and safety in the workplace. In 2024 it ran an agricultural media campaign “Your Farm Your Future”, a successful example of using HSE and industry voices to reinforce safety messages and reach a wide range of farmers and farm workers. This campaign was able to reach and influence many more farmers than inspections would have allowed using the same level of resource.

HSE also engages with the industry through a variety of other methods including delivering industry talks; webinars and presentations; engaging with the media and writing articles; producing industry notifications which include safety messaging; and producing awareness raising campaigns. It also produces a range of freely available guidance to enable farmers to comply with health and safety law and keep themselves and others safe.

HSE’s commitment to working with agriculture stakeholders to help change behaviours within the industry and improve the health and safety performance of the farming industry remains strong. HSE will continue to inspect where it has intelligence to suggest risk is not being managed, and to investigate incidents in line with its selection criteria.