Minister for Labour Affairs, Dara Calleary, TD, together with Brendan Smith TD, Minister for Agriculture and Food meets farming interests and asks for action to address the deterioration in Safety in Agriculture

In his capacity as Minister for Labour Affairs, responsible for national policy on occupational Health and Safety, Dara Calleary, TD, together with Brendan Smith TD, Minister for Agriculture and Food today (Wednesday 24th March 2010) met farming and insurance interests to express their concern and alarm at the very high numbers of deaths which have occurred on farms this year and to ask for a plan of action to supplement the work being done by the Health and Safety Authority on farm safety .

To date this year, there have been 9 deaths on farms. The rate of reported fatalities per 100,000 in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery sector is 3 times that in Construction and 6 times greater than the average across all sectors.

Behind those figures is the great loss and grief suffered by the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives in accidents.

Minister Calleary said “At present, there is too much tragic loss of life and serious injury occurring on Irish farms. I believe we urgently need to change the whole culture in relation to farm safety. I have asked the farm organisations in particular, who are so skilled in campaigning, to use their collective expertise to start a campaign to change the culture in relation to farm safety. I want them to put the same effort into that campaign as they have done into so many other successful campaigns. I believe that a campaign, with the weight of all farm interests behind it, can save lives and prevent serious injury on farms.”

He asked the organizations to coordinate their efforts and come back to him with their plans in 4 weeks.

ENDS/LA362