Speech by Minister for Labour Affairs Billy Kelleher TD, at the National Seminar on Occupational Safety and Health in Agriculture

Thursday, 12th July, 2007, Abbeyleix, Co. Laois

I am delighted to be giving the opening address at todays seminar and I welcome all the speakers. I particularly welcome your international speaker - Dr Juha Suutarinen from MTT Agrifood Research, Finland as well as Dr Anne Finnegan who has recently completed a doctorate in the area of Health and Safety at UCD, and Kieran Phelan and his family who will give their views of the importance of managing safety on their farm.

Padraig Walshe, President of the Irish Farmers Association and Tom Collins Director of Corporate and Management Services, Teagasc will be your Chairpersons for the morning and afternoon sessions.

I wish to thank the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee, its Chairperson, Frank Laffey, the Health and Safety Authority and Teagasc for organizing todays seminar and FBD Insurance for its sponsorship.

The attendance at today’s seminar is a representative one with farmers, contractors and health and safety practitioners all present. Today you will share the findings of a number of recent studies on strategies to improve the safety and health record of Irish farms. You will hear from experts in this area from Ireland and Finland. I hope what is learned is taken on board and put into practice.

I have to begin by expressing concern at the serious state of safety in agriculture. The Agriculture sector has a safety and ill health record disproportionate to its size. In all, about one third of workplace deaths take place on farms despite the fact that only around one seventeenth of the total workforce are employed in the sector.

Last year, 18 people died on Irish farms. Only construction (12 deaths) came close to agriculture in that morbid league table. It is also estimated that there are some 3,000 injuries on farms each year. Already this year 6 people have been killed in the agriculture sector, the youngest of them 59 years old, the oldest was 81. Indeed, 4 of those 6 were older than 65.

It is that last statistic that is most chilling. It is not just farmers who are dying but primarily their elderly fathers, uncles, neighbours and friends. Most accidents are preventable; most involve simple incidents which could have been be avoided if there was more thought given to safety and an inherent aversion to risk taking among people. The consequence of ignoring or paying little attention to safety is that the human and economic costs are high - apart from the pain, suffering and tragedy, the economic loss can jeopardise the livelihood of a farm family.

We need to change the attitude to safety and I acknowledge that a lot has been done in recent years with partnership approaches across sectors like agriculture and construction. In agriculture, the partnership has been a key feature of the work with the Farm Safety Partnership and the collaborative efforts of Teagasc and the Health and Safety Authority helping to promote the safety message.

The new Code of Practice for the Prevention of Accidents and Occupational Ill Health in Agriculture, which was launched last September and distributed to more than 160,000 farmers as part of a €1.5million campaign is a prime example of such a partnership. This Code is the result of a joint initiative between the Health and Safety Authority and the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee to the Health and Safety Authority.

The new Code is the key element behind the national drive to improve farm safety, reduce accidents and save lives. It was written by farmers for farmers and should not pose major issues either in terms of interpretation or implementation.

The aim of the Code is to improve the level of safety and health among all people engaged in the agriculture sector by providing practical guidance with respect to the observance of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, including the provisions of sections 19 (hazard identification and risk assessment) and 20 (safety statement) of the Act.

A failure to observe any part of a Code of Practice will not in itself render a person liable to civil or criminal proceedings. However, where a Code gives practical guidance on the observance of any of the relevant statutory provisions, compliance or non-compliance with those provisions may be admissible as evidence in criminal proceedings.

That said, Health and Safety Authority Inspectors approach farm inspections to help farmers manage safety and health on the farm and not to criminalise them. However, the Inspectors’ job is to ensure compliance with health and safety law in the overall interests of worker safety and so it should be understood that Inspectors will take action if their advice is continually ignored.

In May of this year Inspectors from the Health and Safety Authority embarked on a nationwide farm inspection campaign. This campaign is a follow-up to the public awareness campaign that accompanied the launch and distribution of the new Code of Practice.

Inspectors are focussing on the main causes of farm accidents including tractor and machinery use, livestock handling and falls from height. They are also focussing on the safety of the elderly and children around the farm. Farmers are being asked to produce the old self assessment document or a completed copy of the new Code of Practice risk assessment.

Farmers have a very good understanding and awareness of the safety and health issues on the ground. But they often fail to take the final step that would protect themselves and their loved ones. This is where what the Health and Safety Authority strategy of a culture of safety and health in the workplace is important – the thought of safety as an absolute priority should be paramount. The time and money which you think you will save by taking shout-cuts is in many cases likely to be very expensive in the longer run.

I would encourage farmers to attend the excellent Teagasc courses now available on the new Code of Practice. It will be time well spent.

I wish to commend IFA Skillnet and Teagasc in establishing training for this Code of Practice including the IFA Skillnet scheme currently being rolled out. Not only do these training courses give added value to the Code, they are in fact, integral to its successful adoption and attendance by farmers is a must.

In particular, the Code identifies the data available on fatalities, injuries and ill-heath in farming and sets out approaches to reduce such occurrences. Priority is given to issues leading to the most serious causes of injury and ill health.

The timing of this seminar is opportune, given both the ongoing concern at the level of farm deaths and injury and the increased level of construction activity about to take place on farms.

As I have said already both sectors have the highest number of fatalities and injuries.

In the coming months construction activity will take place on many farms all over Ireland as farmers move to comply with the new Nitrates directive. Between now and the end of 2008 the two riskiest professions in this country will converge on common locations. It will be a difficult time for farmers and construction workers and will require the redoubling of efforts to keep safety as a priority.

Under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2006 farmers, or their consultants, are required to notify the Health and Safety Authority about building work being carried out on the farm if it takes 30 days or more.

I am also asking everybody involved to heed the advice of the Health and Safety Authority and above all to comply with the extensive but practical guidance and codes available for both the agriculture and construction sectors.

I am delighted to know that nationally accredited FETAC Certificates in Farm Safety and Health will be presented to 86 farmers later today. I would like to congratulate every farmer receiving an Award and commend Teagasc in County Laois for providing FETAC Training on Safety and Health on a pilot basis and particularly Lily Nolan who co-ordinated the courses.

Nationally Teagasc plan to deliver half–day courses to 9,000 farmers on completing the Code of Practice to farmers in 2007 as part of the Health and Safety Authority- Teagasc Joint Prevention Initiative. IFA Skillnets is also providing this training to its county and branch officers in every county during 2007. I believe that such training is crucial to gain effective implementation of the Code of Practice.

Before the Seminar concludes there will be an Open Forum where you as participants in this National Seminar will be able to express your views on future directions on improving the record of Safety and Health on Irish farms. This is a really important part of the part of the event as every insight that could save a life or a limb is a valuable contribution.

Teagasc, FBD and the Health and Safety Authority have produced a valuable piece of work with their advisory booklet for farmers called ‘Build in Safety’. The starkest message is contained in the booklet with the words ‘Prevent the heartache by making your building site a safe one. Always think safety first’.

I can think of no better message to take from today’s event.

Again, I would like to thank and commend you all for your attendance at this event. I am sure you will find it a worthwhile experience. I now declare the conference open and hand you over to the Chairperson of the Opening Session, Padraig Walshe.

Ends/LA243a