TWO LEADING farming organisations have said that awareness and promotion of safety on farms would be more effective than increasing farm inspections and enforcements.
Their statements followed the Health and Safety Authority’s announcement that it is to double farm safety inspections after deaths on Irish farms rose from 11 in 2009 to 25 last year.
“Reducing fatalities and accidents on farms should be about changing farmers’ attitudes through education and promotion, and working with them to address farm safety issues,” said Macra na Feirme president Michael Gowing.
Irish Farmers’ Association farm family committee chairwoman Margaret Healy said analysis showed that the most effective means of reducing incidents on farms was to increase awareness of safety through education and promotion.
The IFA will launch a campaign to highlight farm safety later this month, she said.
Mr Gowing said that there needed to be a balance between enforcement and promotion, and that Macra had introduced safety advice from health and safety inspectors on farm walks.
A range of national initiatives is required to promote farm safety, he said. Money from the EU-funded Rural Development Programme should be made available for such initiatives, he added.
Minister for Labour Affairs Dara Calleary “must explore such funding options to promote safety in the long term by changing attitudes through promotion, education and training,” he added. “This is the most effective means of addressing farm safety.”