Farming is a dangerous occupation – The most dangerous in Ireland, according to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

From 2004 to 2013, a total of 176 people lost their lives on farms. A total of 176 people will never have the joy of farming again. A total of 176 families will always carry the burden of losing a loved one.

Despite excellent work from the likes of the HSA, the message is not getting through to people. Last year we lost 16 people on farms but this year we have already had 13 fatalities. The Rohan family recently launched the Embrace FARM charity aimed at educating the nation on farm safety. It has the immediate respect of farmers.

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Collaborative efforts are needed and this why the IFA Farm Safety Day on 21 July needs the respect and buy-in from all the farming community.

We have to finally get the picture that farming is dangerous. It’s the most wonderful and fulfilling occupation there is, but people can die while farming and people will continue to die unless we prioritise safety on our farms.

Fatal accidents in 2014

  • The farmer died when he was pinned between the body and chassis of a trailer.

  • The deceased fell from a trailer attached to a moving tractor that was drawing tree branches from the farmyard to the rear of farm. He received crush injuries as the trailer wheel went over him and was pronounced dead at the scene.

  • The victim went into a shed to feed cattle and came in contact with spikes (used to lift bales of hay) which were part of a front-end loader on a tractor. The tractor was parked at the time and the loader was in a raised position with the spikes 1.4m off the ground. One of the spikes injured/cut his neck. He went back into his house and went unconscious.

  • The deceased was herding two cattle from a field down a public road and into a pen. The cattle were almost in the pen when one heifer turned and ran, knocking down the farmer. He fell and hit his head on the ground. He passed away a week later at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin.

  • The victim was found crushed between a silage bale on the front loader of his tractor and a feed gate on the front of a slatted unit.

  • Indications are the deceased was transporting a silage bale on the front loader of his tractor, along a lane on his land. The ground was very uneven, with deep potholes filled with mud. He had the bale raised, presumably to permit a view forward. He was making a turn through a gateway when the unbalanced tractor rolled over onto its side. He managed to escape from the cab, out from under the vehicle, into the mud. He was found the next morning by a neighbour, lying in the lane.

  • The victim had reversed his tractor and sheep trailer close to a shed. He went around to the back and when he opened the trailer door the tractor slipped back, crushing him against a wall. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

  • The deceased was walking beside the main storage shed in the farmyard when he was struck on the head by the bucket of a wheel loader, causing fatal injuries.

  • The deceased was erecting shuttering pans and, while making adjustments to them, they toppled and pinned him underneath.

  • The farmer was manoeuvring a tractor in his farmyard when he fatally injured the victim.

  • The deceased was found lying on the ground beside his round bale wrapper machine with head injuries. The pin for the lifting arm had been removed which allowed the lift arm fall.

  • The victim was helping his nephew to move cattle from one field to another. He entered the field with his dog and was attacked by a cow which had recently calved. The attack was initially on the dog but when the victim tried to intervene, he was trampled on a number of times by the cow. He was taken to Letterkenny General Hospital and died a short time later.

  • The deceased was assisting his father in agitating slurry. He was overcome by fumes and collapsed into the slurry tank where he became entangled in the agitator.