A farmer in his 80s at Carrigroe, Enniskeane, Co Cork, was fatally injured at approximately 2pm on Tuesday 29 November, when his quad bike overturned. The accident happened on the family farm. The HSA said it has launched an investigation.

This accident follows the death of a man in his 60s, who was fatally injured on a farm in Athboy, Hacketstown, Co Carlow on 19 November. The man is understood to have died when a trench collapsed on him.

The latest fatalities bring to 18 the number of people who have died on Irish farms so far this year. Below are the details of the other lives lost so far this year, as reported by the HSA.

12/01/16 Kilkenny, 60 years old

The deceased received fatal injuries while assisting a contractor, who was in the act of washing beet, to fill a trailer with water using the hose from a vacuum tanker. It appears that the deceased may have been struck by the end of the hose.

26/02/16 Kilkenny, 77 years old

The deceased was injured when he was attacked and knocked over by a recently calved cow in his farmyard. He sustained head injuries and was taken to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries and died later on 11 March 2016.

01/03/16 Limerick, 32 years old

The deceased was preparing to trim tree branches when it appears that his work equipment came into contact with an adjacent overhead electricity line.

10/03/16 Cavan, 63 years old

The deceased was working underneath the raised front loader attached to his tractor. The front loader dropped and crushed the victim between a crossbar on the loader and the front of the tractor.

02/05/16 Kerry, 65 years old

The deceased was preparing to spread fertiliser using his tractor and fertiliser spreader. The deceased stopped the tractor on a slight incline to refit the stabilising bar which had become detached from the link arm. As he was working at the rear of the tractor, it rolled back, pinning him under the rear left wheel. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

05/05/16 Meath, 71 years old

The deceased was using a quad bike with a sprayer attachment to spray weeds in a field when it appears the quad made contact with uneven ground about 4m from a drain at the edge of the field. The quad bike was later found overturned in the drain (2m deep) and the victim was found trapped underneath the quad bike in the water. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

08/06/16 Cork, 28 years old

The deceased climbed up on to an asbestos cement sheeted roof on a cubicle house to take photographs of the silage being cut on the family farm. He fell through the cement sheeting – a distance of approximately 32ft to the ground. He was pronounced dead at the accident scene by a local doctor.

15/06/16 Meath, 64 years old

The deceased was found trapped/crushed between the front of a loader and the rear of a fertiliser spreader, which was attached to his tractor.

26/06/16 Tipperary, 22 years old

The victim was travelling as a passenger on a telehandler on a private road within a stud farm when it overturned. The victim was pronounced dead at the accident site.

28/07/16 Laois, 57 years old

The victim was loading a round bale of hay on to a buck rake on the back of a tractor. It appears he reached into the tractor cab and activated the lift lever to raise the buck rake. He became trapped between the top link of the tractor and a solid bar that traversed the rear of the tractor’s cab. It appears the accident occurred over a week previous to his body being found at the tractor.

02/08/16 Mayo, eight years old

A tractor reversed over the victim on a lane in front of the farmyard.

30/07/16 Mayo, 51 years old

The victim’s body was found having appeared to have fallen over a ridge while attending to sheep on a mountain. He had fallen a distance of approximately 200ft.

13/09/16 Tipperary, 71 years old

The deceased had gone to feed cattle in the morning and was found later that night by a neighbour. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The deceased suffered multiple injuries consistent with being attacked by an animal. There were no witnesses.

28/09/16 Longford, 60 years old

The deceased was power-washing some movable animal handling barriers and stacking them against the gable end of a shed where they were to be stored. It appears that he was moving a sheet metal clad door on to the stack when it struck him on the temple. His body was discovered by his son some time later. His body was propped against a wall with the door resting on top of him.

31/10/16 Kerry, 69 years old

The deceased was spreading manure on the bank of the river Feale using his tractor. The tractor was recovered from the river on 2 November and his body was recovered on 3 November 2016.

12/11/16 Kerry, 43 years old

The deceased was removing a hedge cutter from the rear of his Ford 8210 tractor. The hedge cutter was not releasing from the T bar on the rear of the tractor, when the deceased used a steel bar to free it. The hedge cutter fell backwards knocking the deceased to the ground and crushing his head between a concrete kerb and the arm of the hedge cutter.

Machinery

Farm machinery continues to be the biggest cause of farm accidents. In 2015 five farm deaths (26%) were caused by tractors and farm vehicles while 11% were due to machinery and equipment.

Read more

400,000 people at risk of farm accidents

Full coverage: farm safety