Posted on 5 January 2011

Scottish farmer joins scheme to help prevent accidents at work

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A Scottish farmer, who nearly died in an accident at his farm last year, is now joining forces with others to warn of the dangers of accidents at work.

Wullie Russell, whose farm is in the Scottish borders, nearly died in January last year when his shirt became caught in machinery which flung him into the air. He landed on his head and lay unconscious in the snowy conditions for 90 minutes before being airlifted to Edinburgh Hospital.

When his shirt became caught, it was ripped from his body so violently that it flayed the skin from his chest and left arm and he also suffered a ruptured spleen, broken ribs and damage to his lungs and kidney. He was unable to do any manual work for seven months.

Now Wullie has joined the Make the Promise initiative which informs employers and employees of changes that can be made to minimise the threat of accidents at work. Tony Mitchell, an HSE Inspector in the Agriculture and Food Sector said that Wullie was lucky to be alive and that his story underlined how important it was that people working alone, took extra care. He said: “Farmers and their staff often spread the work between them at this time of year to give each other time off over the festive season. This means more lone working and farmers rushing in often dark and inclement weather to get things finished.”