“Farming continues to be the most dangerous occupation in Ireland, with an average of 20 fatalities per year over the past 4 years,” Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said this morning (Friday) as he issued a farm safety message to farmers for 2014. The message is being supported by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

Between 2000 and 2010, 27 children died following accidents on farm and, according to the Minister, the main causes of child fatalities are tractors/machinery and drowning. In 2013, a quarter of the 16 deaths on farms in Ireland were children with both the Minister and the HSA calling for a renewed focus for child safety on farms.

“A farmyard can seem like a playground to a child’s eyes,” the Minister stated.

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“However, children can’t be expected to anticipate the dangers of playing there. Therefore, parents need to see these dangers and set ground rules for children on farms. For example, carrying children as passengers in large machinery is taking a serious risk because tractors and machinery have been responsible for half of all farming fatalities in Ireland over the past 10 years,” he explained.

To help reduce the number of farm deaths, the HSA is planning on rolling out nearly 3,000 on-farm inspections in 2014. The HSA previously confirmed to the Irish Framers Journal that the most of the inspections will be unannounced.