Today, Thursday 21 August sees the 2014 Farm Safety and Health Conference take place in Kilkenny. It should be a red letter day for Irish farms, but it isn’t really. Farm families, almost all of who live beside or in the middle of the workplace, should have farm safety as a priority issue every day, and in every situation.

On page five, we publish a report from the recent inquest following the tragic death last year of nine-year-old Sophie Pearson. The intention is not for shock value, but to demonstrate how simply an accident can occur during an ordinary day on the farm.

Safety is about more than putting up a calving gate or fixing a faulty handbrake, it’s about the atttitude we bring to how we work, how we think and how we train ourselves and others, particularly our children.

This is the harvest season, and I know I’m not the only one who wonders about the sanity of having 16- and 17-year-olds piling along narrow roads with high performance tractors and heavy loads. I know it’s legal, but is it morally acceptable?

Message from Minister Coveney

Farm safety is one of the most important issues facing farming today. It must be realised by everyone that farms and yards are places of work and are not suitable areas for children to be without direct adult supervision.

It is important to continually highlight the need for farmers to think safety first in all tasks they perform, no matter the pressure. Simple behavioural changes are all that it takes to save lives. Taking those few extra minutes may save your life or that of a loved one.

While the Health and Safety Authority has primary responsibility in this area, it is something that every representative organisation and other body involved in farming should be mindful of at all times. I am fully behind all the measures that are being taken to raise awareness of this serious problem.

I personally use every available opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of changing behaviour on farms and making farming a safer occupation for all.