By any measure, a farm is one of the most dangerous workplaces you will ever set foot in. Research published in recent years by Teagasc shows that over a five-year period, one in 10 farms reported a serious farm accident.

In the five-year period from 2012 to 2017, Teagasc estimates a total of 2,814 accidents occurred on Irish farms with an accident occurring on 11% of all farms. These are stark figures and illustrate just how dangerous a farm is, with the elderly and children particularly vulnerable groups.

Farms are particularly dangerous at this time of year with large machinery on the move to harvest crops or draw in silage.

Machinery accidents on Irish farms peak during June, July and August, according to Ireland’s national first responder network.

Machinery is the cause of 25% of all accidents on farms. According to Teagasc’s survey on farm safety, proportion of accidents involving farm vehicles or machinery has more than doubled from 2011 to 2017.

However, the leading cause of farm accidents remains livestock (see chart). According to Teagasc, 42% of all farm accidents involved livestock. In the five-year period up to 2017, Teagasc research shows the rate of livestock-related accidents on farms has risen by 26%.

After livestock and machinery, the other major causes of farm accidents are trips or falls (13%), chainsaws (7%) and accidents in farm buildings (6%). Encouragingly, Teagasc’s research shows a marked decline in the proportion of accidents due to trips and falls since 2012.

Northern Ireland

Farm safety is just as big an issue in Northern Ireland. Martin Malone, regional manager with NFU Mutual Insurance, says there are still too many deaths and serious accidents on farms in Northern Ireland.

“Improving farm safety is very high on our agenda,” says Malone.

“We’ve had a particularly bad run of farm fatalities this year in Northern Ireland. The big three causes of farm fatalities are related to animals, machinery and falls,” he says.

On average, six people have lost their lives in farm accidents in Northern Ireland in the last number of years. In the three-year period from 2017 to 2019, machinery accounted for 44% of all farm fatalities while another 44% were related to livestock. Falls on farms accounted for 12% of farm deaths.

There have been no slurry-related farm fatalities in Northern Ireland for the past three years.

Slurry-related incidents had accounted for 10% of farm deaths in Northern Ireland from 2014 to 2016.

Serious

However, while there have been no slurry-related fatalities in recent years, Malone says there has still been a number of very serious accidents relating to slurry that have caused life-changing injuries for individuals.

Like Ireland, older people are a particularly vulnerable group when it comes to farm tragedies in Northern Ireland, with the majority of those who have lost their life over 60 years of age.