Written answers

Tuesday, 27 July 2021

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Farm Safety

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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28. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the value his Department places on farm safety; the new initiatives he plans to introduce to counter the loss of life as a result of farm accidents and to reduce the number of serious injuries from same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40250/21]

Photo of Damien EnglishDamien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to assure the Deputy that farm safety in the agriculture sector remains a priority for both my Department and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA). As an identified priority sector by the HSA in its current three-year strategy it continues to receive a sustained focus in the delivery of the HSA’s occupational health and safety policy and its inspection programmes.

The HSA has an extensive farm safety prevention programme in place, which focusses on the provision of advice, guidance, e-tools and educational supports for the sector, as well as targeted inspection campaigns. This programme is delivered in a collaborative manner and involves the key farming stakeholder groups along with other Government Departments and Agencies.

Initiatives and measures are in place to educate, raise awareness and to help prevent the injuries and fatalities prevalent in the farming community. Extensive guidance and information on all aspects of farm safety, developed by the HSA in consultation with stakeholders, is freely available. The core of this being a user-friendly Farm Safety Code of Practice and half-day training program on its practical use delivered by the Teagasc advisory service and independent agricultural advisors.

The HSA has continued to provide significant levels of advice and support to the agriculture sector. For example, a new Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee (FSPAC) has been established. This group has just completed a new four-year plan to address occupational health and safety issues in farming, which is due to be published in August.

The HSA also carried out a proactive inspection programme to coincide with Farm Safety Week (19-23 July) which is an annual event lead by the Farm Safety Foundation and takes place in the Republic of Ireland and across the UK. It also continues to carry out periodic campaigns targeting the farming sector.

In addition, under the auspices of my colleague Minister Heydon, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is funding, through the Research Stimulus Fund, a farm safety research project entitled: “BESAFE - Behaviours for Safer Farming: The health and safety of farmers is a significant challenge for the social sustainability of Irish agriculture”. Given the unique occupational characteristics of farming the aim of the BeSafe project is to develop and support the adoption of tailored approaches to improve safety thereby effecting positive lasting change. While the BeSafe project is being led by Teagasc, it is a cross-Agency initiative with regulatory specialists from the Health and Safety Authority participating and supported by the HSA Farm Safety Partnership along with researchers from Teagasc, NUI Galway, and UCD. The work of the team will be overseen by an International Research Advisory Group and a Stakeholder Advisory Group.

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