Farmers are the only irreplaceable asset on their farm and without them, there is no farm, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture with responsibility for farm safety Martin Heydon has said ahead of Farm Safety Week next week.

To date this year, there have been six fatalities on farms.

“Next week, I would ask that every farmer look at their farm and identify one change they can make to make it safer.

“It might be changing a damaged manhole cover, fixing a light on the tractor, buying a helmet for the quad - big or small identify one thing and fix it.

“If we do that on every farm, then it will be a significant step on the path to making farms a safe workplace,” he said.

IFA president Tim Cullinan encouraged farmers during Farm Safety Week to take time to evaluate and review working practices to make their farm safer places to live and work.

This year marks the tenth annual Farm Safety Week, a collaborative campaign, initiated by the Farm Safety Partnership in the UK and led by the IFA in Ireland.

Events

IFA is hosting a number of regional farm safety events, which kicked off last Tuesday at Mountbellew College, Co Galway. The other three events are as follows:

Friday 15 July at 7pm: farm safety event on the farm of Tom Short, Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow A63 HP22.

Wednesday 20 July at 7.30pm: farm safety event on the farm of Jack Porter, Carrigans, Co Donegal F93 ED34.

Thursday 21 July at 7.30pm: a farm safety event will be held in Corrin Mart, Fermoy, Co Cork P61 EE37.