Farmers are becoming more aware of safety on the farm, according to an Irish Farmers Journal/RED C poll.

Of the 1,000 farmers surveyed from across the country, 84% said their awareness of farm safety improved in the past 12 months, 15% said it stayed the same, and just 1% said their farm safety awareness levels decreased.

The results are positive but not surprising. Last year was the worst year for farm safety on record, with 30 people dying while on Irish farms. In fact, agriculture is now the most dangerous occupation in the country, according to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

There have been fewer deaths at this stage in 2015 when compared with 2014 however, 13 people have died while on farms this year.

There has also been an increase in awareness campaigns, especially from the likes of Embrace and its What’s Left Behind video series, which was supported by Larry Goodman’s ABP. The series documents families who have been affected by farm deaths.

Turning to accidents on farms, 23% of farmers who responded to the survey said that they had been involved in a farm accident once or multiple times in the past five years.

Seventy seven per cent of those who responded said they had never been involved in a farm accident.

Methodology

RED C interviewed a randomly selected and representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ living on farms by telephone between 16 and 21 September 2015. Quotas were set and data weighted by farm size, type, and region, based on the latest CSO data to ensure the final sample is representative of the total farming community across Ireland. The margin of error on the results is + or -3%.