Clarkson’s Farm has been condemned by farming safety groups over a photo promoting the second season of Jeremy Clarkson’s agricultural Amazon series.
Season one of Clarkson’s Farm, which followed the former Top Gear host as he tried to run his own working farm, won praise from the farming community when it debuted last year.
However, in promoting season two of the show, Clarkson shared an image that shows co-star Kaleb Cooper lying in the weight box of a tractor.
Safety groups have described the image as “disappointing” in light of the number of deaths through fatal injury that occur in farming.
Between 31 March 2020 and 1 April 2021, there were 41 deaths in the UK farming industry.
Speaking to Farmers Weekly, the manager of the Farm Safety Foundation Stephanie Berkeley said: “This programme could be a great way to help improve this, so it is a pity that they chose to use this photo displaying such poor safety behaviour.
“Agriculture continues to have the poorest safety record of any occupation in the UK and we are working hard to change that.”
Elizabeth Creed, the farm safety consultant at the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, said: “It is frustrating that the team at Clarkson’s Farm did not recognise that their platform has a huge potential for influencing and encouraging a positive safety culture in farming.”
Creed also stated that there have been 12,000 injuries to farming workers over the past year.
The show’s production has issued a response to the criticism, with a spokesperson saying: “As our first series showed, Jeremy has great respect for the farming community.
“The programme is not a ‘how to guide’ for farmers, who already know far more than he does about farming.”
