The grieving uncle of a four-year-old boy killed a farm has
urged everyone in agriculture to do more to keep children
safe.
Brian Nutter was at the wheel of a farm vehicle when his
nephew Harry Lee fell from the cab footplate and was
crushed beneath its wheels.
Mr Nutter, speaking during this year’s Farm Safety Week
(July 18-22), said:” I don’t want it to happen again. Everyone
needs to think. I hope people know what happened they’ll be
a bit more aware of what they’re doing, and they won’t have
to go through what I’m going through.” Mr Nutter, who farms
north of Burnley, Lancashire was given a 26-week prison
sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to
carry out 250 hours of paid work and pay cost’s of £5,154
in March this year, following the incident in July 2019.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
found there were insufficient measures in place to ensure
the safety of children on the farm. The Prevention to
Children in Agriculture Regulations 1998, prohibits
children under the age of 13 from riding on, or operating,
vehicles used in agriculture operations. No-one, including
children, should rid on the footplate of any agricultural
machine.
Mr Nutter was also speaking in the week that the HSE’s
annual Fatal injuries, Forestry and Fishing in Great Britain
report was published, revealing that 25 people had been
killed in agriculture-related activities in the previous
12 months. He said we were cleaning a shed out in the
farmyard, using a telescopic handler and we had to get
something out of the field.
“Harry was with me, and I put him on the machine, as I had
done in the past, and we drove out the yard, on into the lane
and into the field. I turned around and he’d gone, and he was
under the wheel.It was so, so quick.” Mr Nutter said that he
and his family had all grown up around farms and farm
vehicles. He said. “we were brought up on a farm and we did
things, and we were lucky that nothing happened. We were
brought up doing it and you follow suit. My own children had
been on the farm with me, Harry was the next generation, the
younger one. ” He spent a lot of time with me because that’s
what he wanted do, and I loved him being with me because
I didn’t think that we were doing anything wrong. I wish that
Harry had stopped in the house that day, but he didn’t .
“I miss him loads, every day I miss him. I wish he were here.
I’d do anything to bring him back, but I can’t and that’s the
hardest bit. I always think about him, I do a job now and he’s
always there with me.”
Mr Nutter said that the hazards of farming weren’t always
recognised, but that farms were a dangerous place for
children. He said: ” Farms nowhere getting bigger, machinery
is getting bigger, and we’re all running at a faster pace and now
farming is changing that fast it has become more of a dangerous
place for children, but it’s so hard when it’s their home, that’s the
biggest trouble. There’s less of you doing the work and looking
after children at the same time. The children want to be with you
because want to be learning. The Safest place for children is in
the house. Always take a step back and think. I want people to
look and think what you’re doing, there’s always another way.
I know I’m not the first, I hope I’m the last but I know I won’t be.
” I want to get the message across. I am one of people it’s
happened to, and I don’t want it to happen again. People need
to be aware of what can happen. Everyone needs to think. If the
children aren’t there, it can’t happen. If Harry had stopped in
the house he’d be here now. It’s had a massive impact on all the
family. Life has changed forever. It’ll never be the same again.
I wish I’d done something different. It’ll never leave me. I wish I’d
not had him on the vehicle with me. Please don’t do it.”
