Some 3000 farmers in Ireland are to be surveyed by the country’s safety regulator as part of its efforts to reduce the death toll in the Irish agriculture sector.
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) announced last week that its ‘Farm Safety Survey’ aims to identify the behaviours farmers engage in while working and the underlying factors that influence them.
Just a few days after the survey was announced a farmer in his fifties died in an incident on a farm in County Cavan. The man had been working with bales and a skid loader earlier in the day, but when he failed to return home that evening a search was mounted and his body was discovered in the early hours of the following morning.
Agriculture is Ireland’s most dangerous industry; with 21 deaths recorded last year it accounted for almost half (45 per cent) of all workplace fatalities in 2012.
The 3000 farming households taking part in the survey were randomly selected and have until the end of this month to fill in and return the five-page questionnaire, which, according to the HSA, should take around 20 minutes to complete.
It was designed by experts from the agriculture sector and shaped by interviews with farmers at marts around Ireland earlier this year. The project is being steered by occupational psychologist and HSA inspector Patricia Murray, who said: “It is important to stress that this survey is not about blame, or identifying wrong.
“It is entirely confidential and there will be no follow-up contact. We believe that the information provided will prove very useful in supporting and informing the Authority’s role in promoting the benefits of improved health and safety compliance and performance for farmers.”
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association encouraged those in receipt of a questionnaire to give it “serious consideration”. Spokesman John Flynn said: “Farming is, of course, an inherently risky occupation, with factors such as unpredictable livestock, heavy machinery, and the ageing demographic all having an influence.
“However, there is a lot that we can do in terms of prevention in order to reduce the risks involved. This survey is an opportunity for farmers to shape the approach to farm safety in the future.”
