FARMING students were thrown straight into the deep end this week as they learnt how to deal with serious and life-threatening accidents while at work.

Students at Abingdon and Witney College were taught how to act following a chainsaw injury, a crushing scenario or an animal injury.

The scheme was delivered by the Farm Safety Foundation, a charity to help raise awareness of safety among young farmers, challenge and change their attitudes towards farming safely and reduce the toll of injuries and fatalities.

The workshop at the Witney campus consisted of four CSI themed scenarios covering the four main farming accidents in the area including; chainsaw injuries, crushing injury from working in a pen with cattle, machinery related and working at height – such as falling from a ladder.

On the day, the students were broken into four groups and spent approximately 20 minutes at each scenario. 

Commenting on the programme, Pam Willsher, head of faculty land based industries and life sciences said: “Young people are such an important target group for this farm safety message as the future of the industry.

“As technology advances within farming, the risk of accidents can actually increase. While the safety of machinery and equipment has improved, the fact that machines can do so much more can make people complacent.

"It’s fantastic to have an outside organisation like the Farm Safety Foundation come in to help us deliver this vital message and for the students to face scenarios they could come across on their own farms when they go home or in their future workplace."