In the last 10 years (2008-2017), 210 people have died in agriculture and forestry-related accidents. The main causes of these deaths are seen in Figure 1. A huge emphasis has been placed on trying to reduce this number.

The most vulnerable to death and injury on Irish farms are both children and the older farmer (>65), accounting for 46% of the total facilities. The farm safety challenge is a mandatory challenge, with all farmers required to complete a farm safety risk assessment on an annual basis and update on a yearly basis, and to introduce two positive changes to their farms annually.

As part of the farm safety challenge, participants will also attend safety training days every year during the programme in areas such as livestock handling and machinery safety.