Sectors unite to combat soaring on-farm accident mortality figures

LEADERS in the farming, industry and health sectors all plan to host safety awareness events in a bid to curb soaring on-farm accident mortality figures.

The latest Health and Safety Authority (HSA) statistics show 29 lives were lost across the country’s farming, forestry and fishing industries in 2010, compared with just 13 in 2009.

Twenty-five of those 29 fatalities were on farms. Farm fatalities effectively increased by 127% from 2009 to 2010, despite the fact that active farmer numbers dropped by 10,000 during that time. As such, the fatality rate rose even more dramatically than the death total initially suggests.