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With farming accounting for roughly 6% of the workforce, having a significant fatality rate clearly illustrates that current farm safety policies are not effective, Fine Gael spokesperson on agriculture Tim Lombard has said.
The comments came following the launch of the €1m European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) call for innovative farm safety projects.
Senator Lombard said: “Over the past decade, farming has remained the most dangerous workplace in Ireland, consistently suffering 40% to 50% of fatal workplace accidents. This is nearly three times as high as the next closest category.
“We need to know what is and isn’t working. We need to adapt by updating or removing outdated safety measures in order to best address current safety issues and concerns within the industry.”
Innovative solutions
The Cork senator said he was delighted with the announcement of the new EIP initiative by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon.
The Department is currently looking for new and innovative ways of dealing with farm safety challenges within the sector.
Stage one of this EIP call for proposals is closing on Friday 29 January.
A short application form is required to be filled out, which sets out the main elements of a proposed project.
For more, click here.
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