Age key to deaths

Ageing and farmer behaviours explain the rising trend in farm deaths, according to a Teagasc/Health and Safety Authority long-term study.

Farm deaths since 1993 were examined. They averaged 18 per year but in 2014 there were 30 deaths, and more than 20 in three of the remaining years.

“While age is not a primary cause of fatalities, it does help explain some of the trends that have become more prominent in recent years,” said lead researcher, David Meredith of Teagasc’s Rural Economy Development Programme.