THIS WEEK is officially Farm Safety Week, with a specific focus this year on not only physical safety, but also mental health and wellbeing.

This year’s slogan – Your Health. Your Safety. Your Choice – is intended to raise awareness of the importance of good mental health and the increased potential for accidents to occur when farmers or crofters aren’t in the right frame of mind.

Farm Safety Week started in 2013 and has since grown to include England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland, with a single purpose – to reduce deaths and serious injuries in agriculture.

It is backed by the Farm Safety Partnership Scotland, which brings together The Scottish Government, NFU Mutual, NFU Scotland and the Health and Safety Executive.

Each day this week, case studies will be issued highlighting safety issues on Scotland’s farms and crofts, with affected people telling of their accidents, and what they have now changed as a result of that accident.

For more information on Farm Safety Week visit www.yellowwellies.org or follow @yellowwelliesUK on Twitter/Facebook using the hashtag #FarmSafetyWeek

Visit www.hse.org.uk for the full breakdown of agricultural fatality statistics.