Tractors and farm vehicles continue to be the biggest cause of farm fatalities.
A new report from the Health and Safety Authority shows that nearly half of all of the farm deaths in Ireland last year were due to vehicles.
The HSA is urging farmers to continue to increase awareness and safety on their farms in light of the latest figures which show that farm deaths account for half of all workplace accidents.
Farming accounts for just 6% of the workforce yet 50% of those killed at work last year were farmers.
New figures from the Health and Safety Authority show that while there was a 20% drop in workplace accidents in general in 2016, farm deaths increased.
However, they are still lower than the peak figure of 30 in 2014 down to 21 this year but up from 18 last year.
The figures show while the majority of victims of these workplace fatalities are men between the ages of 25 and 65 again the farming sector is bucking that trend with most killed over the age of 65.
CEO of the HSA Martin O’Halloran says any death in any workplace is too many and they are now in particular trying to focus their attention on increasing awareness and safety on farms.
Mr. O’Halloran says farm vehicles are the biggest cause of fatalities on farms and he is urging vigilance in a number of areas:
There were 3 workplace fatalities in the north west in 2016 – two in Donegal and one in Sligo.
The most recent fatality being a man from Leitrim who lost his life on a windfarm accident on the Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon border just before Christmas.
Fortunately none of the farm accidents were in the north west counties but there were two in the nearby counties of Mayo and 1 in county Longford.
The report is available on the HSA website.
