Farm Safety Week begins

This day marks the beginning of Farm Safety Week

. This is an initiative launched by the Irish Farmers Association six years ago to reduce the number of accidents on farms and to improve safety procedures. Agriculture continues to record one of the worst safety record of any sector in Ireland.

Last year, 24 people lost their lives in agricultural accidents and 11 people lost their lives in 2018.

Reacting to these numbers, Joe Healy, President of IFA said : "The statistics are dark but the statistics do not tell the whole story – they do not tell you about the devastating impact of a farm accident on families and communities, they do not tell you the impact that a farm accident can have on the rest of your life, on your ability to handle the "

" Understanding the risks on and around a farm allows you to " avoiding hazards and making accidents less likely, but all too often farmers do not recognize the risks on their farms, which makes it difficult to manage the risks, and sometimes all that is needed is a new pair of eyes to help identify risks and enable change ", he said:

This year, the campaign takes a slightly different approach

. bad safety record and stories of things that will go Wr Farm Safety Week 2018 will begin to talk about when things are going well, share good practices and show what the "good" looks like.

IFA's New Initiative on Farm Safety and Health and Safety:

Appointing a Farm Health and Safety Officer to implement a pilot initiative for farm safety and health. peer learning among farmers, to advise farmers on potential risks and to make them aware of becoming safety ambbadadors in their communities. The initiative will help to help each other, for example, by walking in the farms from each other to identify potential risks and visualize how security works in a real situation.