Farming safety programme aims to cut fatalities
“This is an unacceptably high number of the workplace fatalities,” he said.
“In addition an estimated 1,800 farmers suffer serious injury on farms each year.”
Mr Coveney, who launched a national programme of farm safety courses, urged farmers to be more vigilant.
He said developing a culture where farm health and safety was managed effectively was the aim of the risk assessment approach built into workplace health and safety legislation.
“The availability of half-day training courses for farmers provides an important facility for farmers to gain a clear understanding of the legal requirements at a practical level,” he said.
Health and Safety Authority chief executive Martin O’Halloran said the farm health and safety risk assessment document had been designed to clearly focus on controls that would prevent the vast majority of fatal and serious accidents and ill health among farmers.
Dr Tom Kelly, director of knowledge transfer at Teagasc, said an evaluation by his group and the HSA indicated a positive benefit from training.
“Those farmers who completed a short training course went on to identify 70% more safety controls needed than farmers who had completed the risk assessment without receiving training.
“The training course provides greater understanding of the critical issues and importantly the ‘motivation’ to implement controls,” he said.
The Irish Farmers’ Association, which also launched a farm safety advisory leaflet, said the emphasis of the programme is to provide practical advice on safety measures.
The leaflet is the latest initiative of IFA’s safety campaign, which has been running since the beginning of the year. It has focused on awareness, promotion and education around the importance of farm safety.
IFA president John Bryan said nearly 50% of farm deaths in the last 10 years have been caused by tractors, machinery and other vehicles.
Margaret Healy, IFA farm family and social affairs chairwoman, said that older members of farm families are particularly vulnerable to accidents because of decreased mobility.
“Reaction times are probably the biggest contributory factors to accidents,” she said. “Farm families should be especially alert to risks that may affect both older people and young children.”
A DVD on the safe handling of cattle, produced by the Health and Safety Authority and Teagasc in conjunction with the Livestock Safety Committee of the Farm Safety Partnership, was also launched.
