Farmers Urged to Complete Farm Safety Assessments - Teagasc

Mr. Tony Killeen, Minister for Labour Affairs, said today (Wednesday 13 July 2005) at the opening of The National Conference on Occupational Health and Safety in Agriculture in Ennis, Co. Clare that work had commenced on developing a new code of practice for farm safety. This follows the recent enactment of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005.

“While 28% is a positive start, I would like to see every farmer complete a Safety Risk Assessment document.By completing the Self Assessment and implementing its findings farmers are committing themselves to making progress with health and safety. This is the crucial step to improving the horrendous safety record on Irish farms” he said.

Professor Jim Phelan of the Faculty of Agri-Food and the Environment at UCD commented on the findings of a major 3-year study conducted in association with Teagasc and the Health and Safety Authority. He described farm injury levels, which currently run at 3,000 per year, as totally unacceptable. He stated that little progress has been made since the mid nineties on cutting accident levels and safety deserves a far higher place on most farmers management agenda.

Professor Phelan told the conference that livestock accidents are now the biggest single cause of farm accidents accounting for 27% of all accidents. Trips and falls and machinery related are the other major accident causes accounting for 23% and 19% of all accidents, respectively. He told the conference that the cost of putting controls in place ‘pales into insignificance’ when compared to the consequences of an injury.

Mr. Frank Laffey, Teagasc Health & Safety Officer, told the conference that, while awareness and positivity are important, it is now time for action.

“Farmers must be involved in the solutions to their own safety problems and that should be both at policy level and farm level” he said.

Continuing, he said that farmers need support by way of advice, training and grant aid for specific farm safety problems. Hence an easy to use Farm Safety Assessment document was sent to all farmers over a year ago.

“Teagasc has seen a big upsurge in the demand for farm safety advice. Now that the new Safety, Health and Welfare Act has been passed Teagasc will respond with a comprehensive advice and training programme for farmers on all safety issues” Mr. Laffey concluded.

Ends

Issued by

Larry O’Loughlin,

A/Head, Public Relations Department, Teagasc

Tel: 059 9183408; 0872562434;

Email: loloughlin@hq.teagasc.ie