Tractors and livestock are still big killers
MACHINERY and livestock continue to be the two big killers on Irish farms so far this year, according to the latest figures released by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).
So far in 2015, there have been no farm fatalities in Galway with the deaths spread across 12 counties – last week health and safety representatives from both sides of the Border shared ideas on how to improve farm safety.
Tractors, machinery and vehicles accounted for six of the fifteen deaths so far this year followed by livestock (4), drowning/suffocation (2), falls (2) while one man died after being crushed.
Brian Higgisson, Assistant Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority, said that farmers know what the issues are on their farms, but some seem unable or unwilling to take preventative action.
“Farmers need to change how they do things so that every job, big or small, is done within a culture of safety first - every time.
“We simply can’t keep on losing lives every year through accidents that are completely preventable,” he said.
Three out of the 15 deaths last year on Irish farms involved children or teenagers under the age of 18 while four farmers, aged 65 or over, also perished.
The deaths included a two-year-old and a four-year-old while at the other end of the age spectrum an 82-year-old farmer in Kerry died after being crushed by his tractor.
The following is a summary of the 2015 farm deaths:
■ January, Kilkenny, farmer 61, crushed by a slurry tanker that rolled down a bank.
■ January, Kerry farmer, 82, pinned by his tractor that rolled back as he was feeding cattle.
■ February, Wexford farmer, 42, trapped in the opening of a 600 litre tank used in his milk cleaning system.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.