Farmers are being warned they need to have their tractors and machinery in proper condition.
Starting this Tuesday, the Health and Safety Authority will be carrying out an intensive inspection campaign with a focus on the safe use of tractors and all machinery on farms.
During the last 10 years, more than half of all fatal farm injuries involved vehicles and machinery.
Farm vehicles include tractors, loaders and quad bikes.
In recent years, there’s been a big increase in the number of fatalities involving farm vehicles, particularly quad bikes which were linked to four deaths in 2017 alone.
The safety inspection campaign is being run earlier this year to give farmers plenty of time to plan for the safe use of tractors and machinery before the silage season.
Mark Cullen is assistant CEO of the Health and Safety Authority:
