Mr. Tom Murphy:

On behalf of Professional Agricultural Contractors of Ireland, PAC, I thank the Chairman for affording me the opportunity to address the committee on the very important issue of farm safety. Since 1994, every HSA annual report has identified agriculture as a risk alert sector. Although the introduction of the code of practice relating to children in farming saw a marked reduction in the number of children injured or killed, we have seen no sustained downward trend in the overall number of farm accidents and fatalities. Conversely, figures over this time show that total fatalities in other employment sectors have halved. Farming is a stressful and high-risk occupation and managing health and safety in the busy and potentially dangerous working environment of a farm is challenging for farmers and legislators.

Since 2004, some 206 people have lost their lives on Irish farms and thousands have sustained serious injury. The figures for injury rates are only the tip of the iceberg as it is accepted that there is serious under-reporting. Between 40% to 60% of fatalities and injuries involve tractors and machinery with victims being crushed, trapped and struck and falling from vehicles. Such incidents suggest an element of human error along with vehicle maintenance issues.

PAC believes there should be a legal requirement for all tractors to undergo testing every two years to ensure minimum safety standards. This is the case for machinery in all other sectors, regardless of whether it is used on the public highway or in the workplace. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 requires all employers, including farmers, regardless of whether or not they have employees, to make sure that persons operating machinery are trained to ensure they are competent. Over the past decade, farm machinery has increased in size, power and complexity. However, machines are delivered to the farm with no requirement for training in their safe use or maintenance. The same is true of smaller machinery such as chainsaws and all-terrain vehicles. PAC believes the machinery industry should be obliged to provide appropriate training where such machinery is purchased.

In respect of wider safety issues, the introduction of compulsory safety awareness training for all persons working on farms would ensure that farmers are not at a disadvantage in comparison to those working in other employment sectors. The HSA's farm safety partnership advisory committee, of which PAC is a member, has along with other stakeholders expended considerable energy in raising awareness of farm safety. However, economic restraint in recent years has resulted in a 25% cut in the authority's budget from €24 million to €18 million per annum and a subsequent 25% reduction in staffing levels. To be effective, the HSA must be properly resourced. There is no benefit in having an organisation that cannot fully carry out its work due to underfunding.

PAC makes the following recommendations. It recommends that the programme of HSA farm inspections be extended and not curtailed and that the programme of safety awareness discussion groups be expanded to reach the maximum number of farmers at local level. In order to direct policy and ensure resources are deployed efficiently and effectively, hospitals should be required to furnish the HSA with data relating to patients presenting at accident and emergency departments with injuries resulting from farm accidents. We believe the identification of engineering solutions to specific machinery safety issues should be pursued with manufacturers as a matter of urgency and that tractor testing every two years should be introduced to ensure a minimum standard. We believe training by suppliers upon purchase of certain machinery is essential and that compulsory safety training for farmers should be introduced as part of an ongoing process.

In conclusion, PAC believes that multiple strategies are required to improve farm safety. In our submission to this committee, we discussed many aspects of farm safety and made appropriate recommendations. However, we have focused today on issues relating to vehicles and machinery. It is now time to reappraise our approach to farm safety. For decades, enforcement bodies have adopted the carrot and stick approach but this has not worked. Farmers often say that managing safety is a costly business but in most cases, the cost of change is minimal and outlay is, after all, tax deductible. We need a sea change in the attitude of the entire farming community and for farmers to recognise that safety legislation is not a stick to beat them with but a means of support to keep them alive and well and their families and employees safe. We believe that with the support of Government and all stakeholders, Irish farms can become safer places to work and in the not-to-distant future, farm accidents and fatalities will be a rare occurrence.