Safety must be a priority on our farms - A most dangerous occupation

Never has there been greater need for renewed emphasis on safety in the killing fields of Irish farming.

Tragically, a black column of statistics records that 30 people died on farms across the country in 2014, a death toll that includes three children. This comes despite repeated calls for farmers to be more alert to the ever-present dangers that surround them.

Regrettably, the time-worn adage that familiarity breeds contempt holds truer for farming than any other career. As they go about their daily lives, too many farmers seem to give insufficient regard to the hazards associated with Ireland’s most deadly occupation. There can be no denying that last year’s unprecedented toll of farming-related deaths was the result of an insufficiently vigilant approach by some people towards the importance of having protective safeguards on tractors and other heavy machinery, which can kill or maim in the blink of an eye, not to mention the inherent risk of working with bulls or rams, which can turn on a person without warning.