Help to stop the carnage on our farms

Each month last year a farmer was killed while working on the farm.  Indeed already another death has occurred in January. The four main causes of these fatalities are unguarded machinery, handling livestock, falls when carrying out work at heights and incidents involving slurry tanks. This unprecedented rise in deaths calls for action.

Accordingly the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) during February and March will be focussing its attention on farm safety through a Help Initiative. This will entail HSENI staff visiting farms and speaking directly with farmers and their families about how we can ensure their safety and help prevent injury and death. This complements its current TV advertising campaign which is running on UTV.

The realisation that everyone involved in the industry must do everything possible to prevent any further deaths has seen the HSENI working closely with the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) to develop a new Farm Safety Partnership.  

Ken Logan, Acting Deputy Chief Executive, speaking directly to farmers said, “With the full support of the DARD and UFU, HSENI staff will be visiting your farm in order to discuss the dangers that you and your families face on a daily basis. Given that most Northern Ireland farms are worked by one or two people, this is a very personal message to you.  Safety must be your number one priority as it is likely to be you or another family member who gets injured or killed.  This Help Initiative will provide you with an opportunity to ask questions and seek advice from my colleagues. Please co-operate and help make our farms safer.”

Article thanks to HSENI