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There were 21 fatal accidents on farms in 2016.
The figure is close to the average of 20 fatalities reported by the Health and Safety Authority over each of the past nine years, although well below the 30 of 2014.
But the fact that the long-term trend has not fallen will cause the HSA and other authorities to wonder what new steps are needed to reduce risk on farms. Once again, tractors were the biggest cause of fatal accidents, involved in 10 of last year’s incidents. Other machinery/equipment caused a further two fatalities.
Two other recognised risk factors again struck last year. Attacks by livestock resulted in two deaths, while two farmers were killed after falling from heights. No fatalities occurred last year as a result of poisoning by slurry gas or drowning in tanks.
The past two years have seen a big focus by the HSA on highlighting these risks and that effort seems to have had success.
There was an increase last year in the number of fatalities involving elderly farmers. Nine of those killed were aged 65 or over, which is close to half of the total. Over the past decade, an average one-third of all fatalities were in this age bracket.
Elderly risk
Elderly farmers are at risk because most continue to live on the farm after retirement and often want to remain involved in day-to-day activities. This contrasts with workers in construction or other occupations who, after retirement, no longer visit the workplace – and indeed would not be allowed do so.
In addition, many elderly farmers who do not have a successor are happy to keep farming beyond ages at which other workers retire. The HSA points out that elderly farmers are at greater risk of injury because their hearing, eyesight, sense of balance and speed of foot is likely to have declined.
Listen to a discussion of the 2016 farm accident statistics in our podcast below:
Listen to "Farm deaths in 2016" on Spreaker.
The sheer variety of tasks undertaken by farmers continues to make reducing risk very challenging.
For example, last year one victim is believed to have slipped from a mountain ridge while herding sheep and fallen 200 feet to his death. Another is believed to have been struck by the end of a water hose while washing beet, dying from the injury.
A Co Kerry farmer drowned when his tractor entered the River Feale. He had been spreading fertiliser alongside the river.
Systemic problem
“The vast majority of work sectors experienced a reduction in fatalities last year,” Martin O’Halloran, chief executive of the HSA, said.
“However it is clear that there is a systemic problem with safety on our farms.
For the last seven years the agriculture sector has recorded the highest number of fatalities. Safety must become an integral part of farming culture, rather than an afterthought.
Our farm safety walks and knowledge transfer groups are designed to effect long-term behavioural change and it is only through this type of transformation that we will see a significant reduction in farm deaths.”
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