A Clare farming representative claims the difficulty of getting help with daily tasks is contributing to farm-related deaths.
The Health Safety Authority is running a national farm safety inspection campaign this week as figures show more than 70 deaths of this nature have occurred in the last decade.
In the last 10 years, 73 vehicle-related deaths have been recorded on farms, making them the leading cause of work-related fatalities in the agricultural sector.
The HSA says the main causes of deaths from farm vehicles are being crushed, struck, pinned or falling from the vehicle.
Machinery remains a leading cause of death on farms, with being entangled in a power take-off, crushed under a machine part, caught in a mechanism, crushed between vehicles and struck by an object the primary sources of such fatalities.
O’Callaghan’s Mills farmer and Secretary of the Clare branch of the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers Association, Martin McMahon, says the lack of available farmhands has created more dangerous conditions on farms.
The HSA’s inspection campaign will focus on the dangers to children, elderly people and bystanders on farms, with a separate emphasis on the use of quad bikes.
The organisation is advising workers in the sector to plan activities in advance, ensure drivers are trained and check the functionality of all machinery.
It’s also urging farmers to keep mirrors in good condition, wear appropriate clothing and prevent children and vulnerable people from entering work areas.
Feakle-based Chairperson of the Clare branch of the Irish Farmers Association, Stephen Walsh, says there’s always a safer way to carry out a task.
Listen to the full interview here
