Farm Safety Day Monday
By taking time to review or complete a risk assessment on July 21, farmers will reduce the risks to themselves, their families, employees and farm visitors, and ensure they are complying with health and safety legislation.
IFA President Eddie Downey said, “We want farmers to ‘Think Farm Safety’ on July 21, and to continue to ‘Think Farm Safety’ every day after that, because taking even one risk is taking one risk too many.”
IFA Farm Family Committee Chair Maura Canning said the IFA ‘Think Farm Safety Day’ is about focusing busy minds and making sure the whole family is alert to the risks that exist on farms.
Farming remains a labour-intensive and sometimes dangerous occupation.
Each year, farm fatalities reach double figures, and more than 1,000 injuries occur.
The best way to protect you, your family and anyone working or visiting the farm is to know where hazards occur and to eliminate or reduce the risks, by implementing appropriate control measures.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires that all farmers with three employees or more must complete a Safety Statement. Farmers with fewer than three employees can comply with the requirement by adhering to the Farm Safety Code of Practice, completing the Farm Safety Risk Assessment and implementing the appropriate control measures.
A risk assessment can be downloaded and completed through the ifa.ie or http://hsa.ie websites.
The IFA has launched a dedicated ‘Farm Safety’ section on their www.ifa.ie website, which provides farm safety videos, booklets, links and information.
Messages in the IFA calendar, text alerts to members and regular updates through the county executive network are also used by IFA to maintain awareness of farming dangers.
