A CHANGE in attitudes is needed to reduce the high level of fatalities on farms, a conference on the issue heard in Dublin yesterday.
Health and Safety Authority chief executive Martin O’Halloran told the gathering that 16 people had been killed on Irish farms to date this year, following 26 fatalities in 2010.
While progress was being made, a change in attitudes was needed because all the fatalities were avoidable, he said.
Delegates from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Finland, Germany, the United States and Britain attended the conference at the Castleknock Hotel, organised by the HSA and Teagasc, the agriculture and food development authority.
International delegates said their countries were experiencing the same difficulties as Ireland.
In Finland, for example, with 54,000 farms, an average of seven fatal accidents take place a year. There were 45 fatalities in the UK last year, and in Norway there had been 51 deaths on farms in the 2001-10 period.
Eight people have died on farms so far this year in Sweden, accounting for 36 per cent of all occupational deaths. All delegates reported high death rates among older people and children, with many deaths involving machinery and livestock.
Prof Risto Rautiainen of the University of Nebraska and principal research scientist at the Agrifood Research Centre in Finland said the average rate of farm fatalities in the EU was 12 per 100,000, which was not as high as the US figure of 30 per 100,000.
In the EU there had been 567 farm fatalities last year. The highest number occurred on German farms, where 120 people died. There were 56 deaths on Austrian farms and 23 on Polish holdings.
Prof Rautiainen said agriculture was one of the most hazardous industries globally, and recent research had shown that 40 per cent of agricultural workers felt they were in danger at work.
More than half of agricultural workers reported exposure to musculoskeletal conditions. More than 15 per cent reported exposure to skin and respiratory diseases, about 4 per cent suffered from work-related respiratory illnesses, and 20 per cent suffered from noise exposure at work.
A review of the intervention methods to reduce the levels of injuries and deaths on a worldwide basis had shown little reduction in injuries as a result, he said.
“Moreover, legislation requiring rollover protective structures on all tractors in Sweden showed no reduction in injuries – but the same requirement for new tractors was associated with a decrease in fatal injuries,” he said.
“The studies provided no evidence that educational interventions are effective in decreasing injury rates among agricultural workers. Financial incentives could be a better means to reduce injury rates,” he said.
Prof Gerry Boyle, director of Teagasc, outlined the work being undertaken in Ireland with farm organisations, the HSA, the insurance industry and other bodies to make farms safer.
He, too, believed in the need for a change in mindset on farms, but said educating young farmers on the need for safety was essential and improvements were already taking place.
Eddie Downey, deputy president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, Jackie Cahill, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association, and Alan Jagoe, president of Macra na Feirme presented the views of farm leaders.
They said Irish farmers were overstretched financially and physically, and they expressed the hope that increased production – expected under the Harvest 2020 expansion plan – would not lead to more fatalities.
Mr Downey said that to have an uncovered power shaft on machinery was now unthinkable. Jackie Cahill said young people who were educated in farm safety would bring the message back to the farms, and this was positive. The conference continues today.
FARM FATALITIES THE NUMBERS
* 16 people have been killed on Irish farms this year.
* 26 fatalities took place on Irish farms last year.
* 45 people were killed on UK farms in 2010.
* 567 people were killed on farms in the EU last year.
* The average rate of farm fatalities is 12 per 100,000 in the EU, and 30 per 100,000 in the US.