IT could be a road, a loch, a bridge or a wood, but rural workers are being told that taking just a few minutes to note down a local reference point could help save lives.

Agriculture is officially the most dangerous industry in the land, based on fatalities per worker, and in the last decade nearly 80 people died on Scottish farm land, with dozens more suffering serious injuries. Now a new initiative is being unveiled to help the emergency services, particularly the air ambulance, get to casualties in rural areas more quickly, improving chances of survival and recovery.

NFU Scotland is backing the move to encourage rural workers to pinpoint their exact location in an emergency. This is particularly important for those working in remote and isolated places.

The initiative is run in partnership with Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance, working alongside the Scottish Ambulance Service's (SAS) four air ambulance aircraft.

The organisations want farmers, farm workers, crofters, landowners and other rural workers to adopt the easy-to-use grid reference system which helps define accurately their location when they, their family, employers or employees are summoning help.

The pocket-sized reference point cards - detailing unique landmarks such as lochs, prominent hills, masts, water features, churches, bridges or road features - can be copied and kept in multiple locations by everyone on the farm, including on farm vehicles, in workers' pockets or pasted to the back of their mobile phones.

By identifying clearly visible landmarks, anyone involved in an accident can pass on an accurate location to emergency services, allowing help to find them more easily.

NFU Scotland President Nigel Miller said: "It's easy to think this doesn't apply to me and that I'll never need to use these grid cards. However, in reality we are all at risk. It really does matter that we all take this initiative seriously and make it work - it's about protecting our families and those who work with us and not just ourselves.

"We would ask anyone who works in the rural community, including farmers, crofters and landowners, to take five minutes to fill out the card. I know we are all busy, but by taking just a few minutes to fill it out, it could potentially save a life and help the emergency services locate an accident victim more quickly and easily."

He said in an emergency this time-saving mechanism "could mean the difference between life and death".

Figures recently released by the Health and Safety Executive showed that in the last 10 years 13 people were killed on Scottish farms by falling; nine in incidents involving livestock; 26 in incidents involving vehicles; and six while working with machinery.