Farmers asked to make a big effort on safety in 2014
A SPECIAL plea has been made this week for farmers to make 2014 the safest ever year recorded on Irish farms, following the confirmation the deaths of 16 people last year in agri-related accidents.
In four of those farm deaths, children lost their lives, prompting the CEO of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) to ask farmers for a special effort this year to prevent on-farm deaths.
HSA CEO, Martin O’Halloran, said that while some jobs like farming could be more hazardous than others, it could never be accepted that these deaths were inevitable and couldn’t be prevented.
“I am particularly concerned that 4 children lost their lives due to work-related accidents on Irish farms last year. We are working to foster a culture of safety in the sector but high accident rates show that the pace of change is too slow. I am calling on farmers to make 2014 the safest year on farms ever recorded,” said Mr. O’Halloran.
Two of the 16 farm deaths in 2013 occurred in Galway and Mayo. The Galway death was last Spring when a 61-year-old farmer got trapped between a tractor and an attachment.
In the Mayo fatality, a 45-year-old farmer died after getting entangled in a feeder last November.
There were two other work fatalities in Galway, one of them in the transport sector where the victim was a 45-year-old Lithuanian garage worker who fell from a trailer last March.
The third Galway work fatality was a 65-year-old man who was crushed by a teleporter last October.
Most of the farm accidents were machinery related and included entrapment or falls from tractors and trailers. Other causes of death were: livestock, electrocution, silage gases and a fall.
According to the figures released this week by the HSA, there were 46 people killed in work-related accidents during 2013, compared to 48 in 2012.
There were reductions in fatalities in the Agriculture sector, from 21 in 2012 down to 16 in 2013; the Fishing sector, from 7 in 2012 to 4 in 2013; and the Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities sector with 4 fatalities in 2012 and 1 reported last year.
The Construction sector recorded the second highest number of fatalities with 11 killed, making it the third year in a row that fatalities increased in the sector. The main causes were the movement of vehicles on site and falls from heights.
The county with the highest number of fatalities during 2013 was Cork with 12 occurring; 6 in Agriculture, 4 in Construction, 1 in Education and 1 in Fishing. Counties Dublin and Waterford recorded the second highest number of fatalities with 4 in each.
“The overall trend in fatalities has been decreasing for the last 10 years. However the fact is that each year people lose their lives because of a work-related accident. This is a tragedy for the victims, their families, friends and the wider community.
“Generally our investigations show that these tragedies could have been prevented. The likelihood of an accident occurring can be greatly reduced by ensuring that safety is at the core of all work activity anything less is an invitation to disaster,” said Martin O’Halloran.