Martina Gormley has over 18 years’ experience visiting Irish farms and work places, she uses her knowledge to communicate codes of good practise by answering questions from the Irish Farmers Journal.

Listen to "HSA inspector Martina Gormley discusses how farmers can become more aware of their health and safety" on Spreaker.

When asked why agriculture can lead to being such a tragic job, Martina outlines how the farmer usually operates from their home and hence familiarity sets in and children may be close.

As well as outlining the work that the Health Safety Authority (HSA) does, Martina states how farmers can help themselves by organising their work at the start of the day.

“If you know a contractor is coming to the farm, you need to communicate with everyone so that anyone near the site is informed and aware,” commented Martina.

Having seen work and inspected many work places, construction sites included, Martina commented that farmers are some of the nicest people she has ever met, but highlighted how busy they can be.

Pressure is a major stress and worry for farmers so managing this is crucial to minimising accidents on the farm.

Health is another aspect of Martina’s job that is separate to safety yet extremely linked. With the HSA focusing on physical safety, Martina believes a priority is also mental health and general health of the farmer.

“If a farmer gets a niggle on their shoulder, they know that they still have to get the work done tomorrow, it’s this attitude that may lead to an incident and therefore health and well-being of people in agriculture is a top priority for anyone working to reduce accidents on the farm.”

The above interview was featured in the weekly Irish Farmers Journal podcast.