Workplace safety - Tragedy a sharp lesson for us all

The terrible tragedy near Hillsborough, Co Down, at the weekend confirms what statistics have already shown.

Farms are still the most dangerous working environment in this country.

The death of Noel Spence, 52, and his two sons Nevin, 22, and Graham — aged 30 and married with two children — and slurry gas-induced injuries to their sister Emma is a shocking blow to a family, a community, and an industry already too often blighted by death and life-changing injury.

That rugby player Nevin Spence, one of Ulster’s and Ireland’s rising stars, lost his life in the accident adds, if that is possible, to the sense of sadness and shock.

The very idea of a young man so very well-known, so obviously vigorous and healthy, dying like this is so dramatic and challenging, so very unnatural, that it resonates across several communities. Just last Friday — a day before his death — Spence played for Ulster Ravens against Munster A. He made his Ulster debut two years ago and represented the province 42 times.

Impressive though these achievements are they pale into insignificance in the light of the treble tragedy. That the deaths occurred on their family farm, one just like tens of thousands of others across this island, will touch every rural parish in Ireland.

Just as the death of Fermanagh county footballer Brian Óg Maguire in another work accident last week shook his family and community the Spence deaths should serve as a warning to anyone involved in dangerous work that risk often has lethal consequences and that safety procedures should be instinctive reactions to years of careful practice.

Unfortunately, it seems that lesson is not being learnt or at least not as well as it might be. The number of work-related deaths in the Republic in 2011 jumped by 15%. The greatest number were on farms — 22 out of 55, down from 25 in 2010. From 2008 to 2011 74 people working on farms here lost their lives.

This probably is a consequence in the upturn in farm incomes, the downturn in the rest of the economy, and that many of those from a farming background but once employed in the construction sector have returned to work the land.

Despite the recession, or possibly because it encourages some people to cut corners, Health and Safety Authority figures show a steady increase in work-related deaths. Mechanisation and the fact that so many farms are one-man, often part-time operations, probably adds to that dangerous momentum. The darkening days of winter will only exacerbate the potential for tragedy.

The Spence tragedy and the others like it should encourage anybody involved in promoting safety in the workplace to redouble their efforts. Everybody working in a dangerous environment should remember they are just a slip away from oblivion and behave accordingly.