Conference highlights agri-accident blackspots

The majority of agricultural accidents happen in intensive farming areas of the country, a safety conference heard today.

Long working hours during the harvest season, a higher use of dangerous machinery and more animal herding are among the factors which contributed to the increase.

Tillage farmers in Kildare, Meath and Wicklow as well as dairy farmers in the Golden Vale in Munster are particularly at risk.

Teagasc, the farm advisory service, is now carrying out detailed case studies in these risk areas, which were identified in its most recent National Farm Survey.

Health and safety specialist John McNamara said practical safety measures were needed to cut the number of farm deaths, which reached 19 last year.

“Farmers haven’t spent enough time on this type of work. Unless they take action and get a satisfactory lifestyle, they won’t have successors.”

About 30% of workplace fatalities take place in the farming sector even though it only employs 6.5% of the workforce.

The farm safety conference at University College Dublin heard that the high level of farm deaths was a problem in Denmark, Sweden, the US and other countries around the world.

UCD researcher Anne Finnegan, who carried out the National Farm Survey for Teagasc, said it was not accurate to write off farmers as negligent in safety procedures.

“The farmer is the manager on the farm and he has the last say. It’s difficult for farmers to be self-critical and also to identify the hazards because they’re so familiar with the environment.”

She said farmers were swapping between a variety of tasks every day such as moving livestock and then repairing a tractor. She added they were under increasing work pressure due to a decline in income.

But Ms Finnegan said there was a misconception about safety among farmers.

“In the National Farm Survey, 73% of farmers said they found farm work dangerous but 75% considered their own farm safe. There’s a contradiction there.”

The ageing profile of Ireland’s 130,000 farmers has also contributed to the rise in accidents.

Teagasc sent self-assessment safety checklists to every farmer in the country last year and has received 20,000 replies so far.