A Scottish farmer, who nearly died last year, is hoping that his story will encourage others to take care in the snow and ice during the winter months.

Wullie Russell nearly died after slipping on icy ground while pumping out an underground storage tank at his farm in the Scottish borders. As he slipped his shirt became caught in a slurry tank and he was flung into the air, hitting the back of his head as he landed. He lay unconscious in the freezing conditions for an hour and a half before being discovered by a supplier to his farm. Though he has made a good recovery, it took months for Wullie to return to manual work and he now hopes agricultural workers are aware of the dangers posed by the bad weather.

If you have been injured whilst working on a farm you could be entitled to compensation. Speak to our specialist farming accident solicitors today to discuss your case. You can make farm machinery injury claims if you have been injured by any of the machinery found on a farm. If you are not a British national and have been injured whilst working on a farm in the UK we can assist you too with foreign farm worker claims.

He has now signed up to the Make the Promise initiative, along with 30,000 other farmers, which aims to help workers learn from shared experiences and make simple changes that can prevent similar accidents happening in the future.

The farmer said: “It was a very frightening experience and something that I'll never forget. I still have flashbacks today and fear that I will have for the rest of my life.” He added that many workers get away with catching clothes in machinery or escape injury when coming into contact with moving vehicles while on a farm but while they may be lucky nine times out of 10, he warns: “Unless it's happened to you no-one can comprehend what it's like to live knowing that you've come that close to death.”

http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2010/hse-agriculturewarning.htm