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Farm Safety

Farm safety infographic

Farm safety is an issue that has unfortunately raised its head all too often in Ireland in 2014. More than 23 people including 5 children have died on farms this year alone.

Farm safety is an issue that affects farm workers worldwide, not just in Ireland. A recent list of the top 10 ‘deadliest’ jobs in respected USA publication Forbes shows farming to be in 9th place.

As technology and machinery have advanced, it seems that the related health and safety initiatives on farms are slow to catch up. Farms and farm yards can sometimes be situated close to family homes and often children are actively encouraged onto the farm site. Of course this is healthy for the child but farm yards are active work sites with large live machinery and animals and therefore should be respected.

Over the years we have seen how construction sites have had to adhere to more and more stringent requirements in terms of health and safety and there is no reason why farming and agriculture should be any different.

Farmers need to take safety measures more seriously and implement them forcefully on their land. If new employees join, they should receive training in the safety practices of the farm. Machinery should be respected and young children should be actively warned about the dangers that can face them in the farming environment. Education is a key area and if everyone learns to respect the farm site, safety will start to become a priority.

Dangerous areas of the farm such as slurry pits and large machinery should be carefully secured in order to prevent an accident happening. The farmer should have an emergency plan in place in the event of something happening on the farm that exposes someone to danger.

This detailed infographic from the Irish weekly agricultural publication The Irish Farmers Journal charts the in-depth details surrounding this very serious subject. It focuses on where most injuries and deaths occur on the farm and it breaks down the figures to show what the major causes of the incidents are. It also looks at some quotations from industry experts as to what can be done to attempt to alleviate the situation. Click on the image to the right for the full size infographic.

 

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