Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the steps she has taken recently to combat the number of farm accidents; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3752/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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I am very concerned about the level of safety on our farms and I support wholeheartedly the work of the Health and Safety Authority which is the State Authority charged with overall responsibility for promotion of workplace health and safety. Steps I have recently taken to combat the number of farm accidents include the following:

The Minister for Labour Affairs and I launched at the World Ploughing Championships in Carlow last September a "Code of Practice for the Prevention of Accidents and Occupational Ill Health in Agriculture". The aim of the Code of Practice is to provide practical guidance to farmers and to help improve the level of safety and health in the agriculture sector. The Code is the result of a joint initiative between the Health and Safety Authority and the farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee of the Authority, on which Department of Agriculture and Food is represented

My Department in conjunction with the Department for Labour Affairs circulated some 160,000 copies of the Code of Practice to all farmers in late November/early December 2006. On the 10th January 2007, I attended and fully supported the launch of the Health and Safety's public awareness campaign surrounding the Code of Practice.

Teagasc, the statutory body responsible for training in the agriculture sector, aims to provide training for 9000 farmers on the Code of Practice.

For REPS participants, Health and Safety is included as part of the 20-hour training course.

Under the scheme of investment aid for Farm Waste Management operated by my Department, investment can be made for the purposes of increasing on-farm safety. Eligible items include:

Safety fencing around external slurry and effluent stores;

Safety covers on external agitation points or manholes;

Safety rails on silo walls;

Replacement of single slats by gang slats;

Removal of existing internal agitation points and its replacement by a gang slat; and

Replacement of hinged door/sheeted gate with sliding door on animal housing.