Importance of Being Ever Vigilant when It Comes to Farm Safety – IFA
Ahead of this year’s Ploughing Championships where an updated farm safety leaflet will be launched, IFA President John Bryan stressed the importance of being ever vigilant, when it comes to safety on our farms.
The leaflet contains Top Tips to Improve Safety on Your Farm and deals with handling tractors, machinery and vehicles, safety with livestock, child safety, preventing falls and falling objects, safety with handling slurry, and farm forestry and small tree felling.
John Bryan said the IFA campaign ‘Think Safety, Farm Safely’ has visited each IFA County Executive to raise awareness around farm safety. “IFA’s view is that education and promotion are key elements in helping to reduce accidents on farms.”
He said that by simply taking a few minutes to think about the risks involved before starting a task, you can take preventative measures to lessen the likelihood of an accident.
Farms can be a dangerous place with livestock and powerful machinery, slurry pits and other hazards capable at any time of posing risks, especially to children. This is why it is so important that everyone takes responsibility and put in place measures to reduce the risks on our farms.
He said the best way to bring about a real change and reduce the accidents on Irish farms is through promotion and awareness of farm safety. The IFA farm safety campaign, Think Safety Farm Safely, which was launched earlier this year by President Mary McAleese, encourages farmers to maintain the highest safety standards on their farms.