Health & Safety Support for Agriculture

Practical, qualified health and safety support for farms, agri-contractors and rural businesses across the UK.

Practical H&S support that understands how agriculture works

Agriculture carries some of the most serious workplace risks of any industry in the UK. Machinery and vehicles, working at height, agrichemicals, lone working, seasonal workers and livestock handling all create real hazards that need to be managed properly not just documented.

Safety Assistance works with farms, estates, agri-contractors and rural businesses to put sensible, workable safety systems in place. We understand that agricultural operations run to their own rhythms and that practical solutions matter more than generic paperwork.

Our team has direct experience working with farming and estate businesses. We act as an extension of your team helping you meet your legal duties, manage risk and keep your people safe, without overcomplicating things.

Agricultural employers have legal duties to manage workplace health and safety. If you are unsure what that means for your business, we can help you work through it clearly and practically.

What we can help with

Competent Person service - appointed under your legal duty to have access to competent health and safety advice
Risk Assessments - covering machinery, vehicles, working at height, livestock and more
RAMS - for agri-contractors and on-farm operations
COSHH Assessments - pesticides, fertilisers, fuels and other hazardous substances
Health and Safety Management Systems - practical frameworks that work for your operation
Accident and Incident Investigation - thorough, objective and focused on preventing recurrence
Health and Safety Auditing - on-site or remote, against relevant standards
Hazard Identification - structured reviews to find and address risks before they cause harm
Contractor Support - helping you manage contractors working on your land or premises safely
Accreditation Support - SSIP schemes including CHAS, SMAS Worksafe, SafeContractor and Constructionline for agri-contractors
Agricultural Construction and CDM - support for new farm buildings, grain stores and other construction projects

Common hazards we help agricultural businesses manage

Agricultural machinery and vehicles – tractors, telehandlers, ATVs and other mobile plant are among the most significant sources of serious injury on farms. We can help you put safe systems of work in place, review your risk assessments and ensure operators are properly managed.

Working at height is a regular part of farm life, whether that is grain store maintenance, roof work, ladder use or working on trailers and vehicles. We help businesses identify where the risks are greatest and put proportionate controls in place.

Agrichemicals, pesticides, fertilisers and fuels all fall under COSHH requirements. We carry out thorough COSHH assessments, review safety data sheets and help you put the right controls and health surveillance arrangements in place.

Lone working, seasonal and migrant workers, livestock handling, slips and trips in farmyards, and fire risk are all areas we regularly help agricultural businesses address. We understand these risks and can help you put practical, proportionate controls in place – not just tick boxes.

Tools to manage safety day to day - Safety Mate®

Safety Mate® is a health and safety management platform that replaces paper forms, spreadsheets and shared folders with one system for managing risk assessments, COSHH records, equipment checks, incident reporting, training records and more. It has been configured for and used by agricultural businesses, and is designed to be practical for supervisors and workers – not just H&S managers.

Safety Assistance can provide both the consultancy expertise and the technology, so you get support across the full journey from understanding what you need to do, through to managing it effectively day to day.

Common questions from agricultural businesses

Do we need a competent person for health and safety?

The law expects employers to have access to competent health and safety advice. For many agricultural businesses, that means appointing an external competent person rather than employing someone in-house. Safety Assistance provides a competent person service specifically covering this role we act as your appointed advisor, help you meet your legal duties and support you when issues arise. We issue a certificate of appointment as a standard part of the service.

We are a small farm - is this relevant to us?

Yes. The legal duty to manage health and safety applies regardless of the size of your operation. Our service is designed to scale to smaller farms and rural businesses you only pay for what you actually need. A discovery call is free of charge and there is no obligation, so it costs nothing to find out what would be appropriate for your situation.

Can you help with COSHH for pesticides and agrichemicals?

Yes. COSHH assessments are a core part of what we do, and we have direct experience in agriculture and farming. We review the substances you use, assess the risks, check safety data sheets and help you put the right controls in place. We can also advise on health surveillance where it is appropriate. Assessments can be carried out on-site, remotely where all the necessary information is available, or a combination of both.

We use seasonal or agency workers - how do we manage their safety induction and documentation?

This is a common challenge for agricultural businesses. Safety Mate® can help you manage worker briefings, document sign-off and training records in one place, making it much easier to demonstrate that seasonal and agency workers have received the right information before they start work. We can also help you put induction processes and safe systems of work in place as part of our consultancy service.

Can you help us get SSIP accreditation?

Yes. We have helped agricultural businesses achieve SSIP accreditation, including schemes such as CHAS, SMAS Worksafe, SafeContractor and Constructionline. If you are an agri-contractor working for larger clients or principal contractors, accreditation is often a requirement. We can review your existing documentation, identify any gaps and help you get your submission in order.

Talk to us about your agricultural business

Whether you run a farm, manage an estate or operate as an agri-contractor, we can help you put practical health and safety support in place with transparent pricing based on your requirements after a free discovery call.