Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 29 January 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Farm Inspections: Health and Safety Authority

10:00 am

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will leave it at that. The authority, in its presentation, stated: "Bringing about such a change cannot be achieved by a single entity or a single approach." This is probably the nub of the matter. The Health and Safety Authority is a very important cog in the machinery when trying to ensure farm accidents are eliminated, which they probably never will be, or reduced to a number approaching the average across various sectors. The committee needs to identify the main themes. I have picked up on a real warning sign here. Some 58% of the accidents are happening on dairy farms which account for 17% of farms.

The proportion of dairy farmers working full-time is higher than in other areas of farming. As such, most of them do not need to rush back to their farms after work. This area requires great focus in view of objections to Food Harvest 2020, but other areas should not be neglected.

The issue of grants was identified. The joint committee will identify a list and make representations to the relevant Minister. It is interesting that 6,000 people have applied for funding under the safety measures in the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS. The joint committee wrote to the Minister to include this measure in the scheme. The figure of 6,000 equates to approximately 5% of all farmers and it should be borne in mind that the application window has been short. This indicates a high level of interest in the scheme. The number of applications would increase significantly if the threshold were lowered.

Everybody agrees that the discussion groups are important. They have generated considerable interest from farmers, members of the public and the media. I stated at all times that the purpose of inviting the Health and Safety Authority before the joint committee was to have its representatives explain the rationale for the reduced number of farm visits in order that we could understand the HSA's position. We were worried about the number of farm visits.

I was a member of this committee during the previous Dáil when members stated a preference for describing farm inspections as farm visits. Mr. Halloran indicated at the time that the Health and Safety Authority was endeavouring to do this. The number of farm inspections or visits appears to be declining. If the HSA policy was to access all areas through the discussion groups, we would have made that recommendation. The discussion groups are key to this issue. No one should fear having health and safety training made a mandatory part of training to become a qualified farmer.

Senator Mooney's practical proposal on the erection of signs listing health and safety requirements is a good one. Such signs would serve as a reminder as they would be in people's faces all the time. Warnings on social media or in a book are not in anybody's face. Road traffic signs, warning signs and health and safety signs can be found everywhere. I thank Senator Mooney for his sensible and easy proposal for enhancing safety awareness, which is a key issue. As people become busier, they forget to take their time and sometimes get into a panic.

I am aware of an unfortunate case involving a child who was responsible for a parent having an accident by virtue of being left in a cab. There are pros and cons to introducing a straightforward fine, although in my view this is not the best approach. A pragmatic approach needs to be taken to this issue. When my young nieces and nephews visit, they want to drive up and down the driveway on a tractor. They are allowed to do this but are then told that is the end of the matter. This is part of the thrill of visiting a farm.

No single entity, agency or approach can overcome this problem. We need to raise awareness. Nine or ten of the 30 people who died on farms last year were aged over 70 years. Mr. Griffin's comments on the cases that occurred in 2009 provided an interesting insight into the profiles of those who died.

I thank all members for their input. Health and safety on farms is close to our hearts. When we circulated information on the issue, members expressed eagerness to invite representatives of the Health and Safety Authority to appear before us. I appreciate the decision of the witnesses to appear at less than one week's notice.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.