Farm Safety Week is continuing . . . and the message today is for older farmers to think more about the ways they can improve their health and safety.
Accidents involving farmers over 55 years of age account for 55% of farm deaths.
35% of fatal accidents on farms involve persons aged 65 or more.
The majority of these fatal accidents are caused by tractors, machinery, livestock and falls from heights.
The IFA is encouraging older farmers to examine how they work and to make sure they ask for help when they need it.
The organisation is also highlighting the importance of getting regular health, hearing and eyesight checks.
The IFA has partnered with Hidden Hearing to encourage farm families to avail of free hearing checks for anyone over the age of 50.
Recent research at agricultural shows revealed a third of farmers admitted they had loss of hearing and ringing in their ears.
But further investigation showed that inability to hear conversations and background noise meant the problem was more widespread.
Worringly, one in four farmers admitted to never wearing ear protection in noisy farm environments.
Meanwhile, Agri Aware has launched its #FacesofFarmSafety Competition.
The competition aims to get as many people as possible to share their family safety advice and to celebrate their good practices.
People can enter by submitting their 10-second video clip or, alternatively, a photo and accompanying message to Agri Aware’s social media channels using the hashtag #FacesofFarmSfety.
The competition will close this Sunday, with the winner announced on Monday.
Deirdre O Shea, from Agri Aware, has been telling Ocean FM News about the competition:
