Concerns over poor safety levels

AGRICULTURE Minister Brendan Smith told the Dáil he is very concerned with the level of farm safety.

In a written reply to a question from Labour TD Kathleen Lynch, he said 11 people died on Irish farms last year. “While this was a decline of about 40% on 2006, it is still unacceptably high. This year to date, six people have died on Irish farms,” he said.

Mr Smith said he strongly supports the work of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), the national body in Ireland with responsibility for securing health and safety at work. The Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee to the HSA put a farm safety plan in place in 2003.

It ran for five years and the outcome was a 28% reduction in farm fatalities, a 31% reduction in farm accidents and a reduction in child fatalities from six per annum to two per annum.

A new farm safety plan is now being developed by the committee. His department will fully support this new five year plan with the aim of reducing farm fatalities and injuries even further.

Mr Smith said Teagasc and the HSA launched a joint initiative in 2005 to reduce the number of accidents on Irish farms.

This three-year initiative aimed to ensure that farmers with three or less employees completed and implemented a farm risk assessment and involved a series of half-day health and safety training courses. During 2006 and 2007, up to 6,500 farmers attended these farm health and safety half-day training courses.

Mr Smith said Teagasc aims to provide health and safety training to some 8,000 farmers in 2008.