Eight farm-safety projects have been successful in answering a call for proposals for innovative farm health, safety and well-being projects under the European Innovation Partnership (EI) initiative, which was launched last December.
Original funding of €1 million for the scheme was increased to €1.8 million to ensure that the maximum number of successful proposals could be selected to proceed to the next stage, according to Minister of State with Responsibility for Farm Safety, Minister Martin Heydon.
Announced to coincide with Farm Safety Week, these eight projects, selected from a larger pool of submissions, will now move to “full implementation” according to the minister.
They will work closely with a large cohort of farmers to co-develop comprehensive pilot schemes that will identify and implement innovative ways to change behaviour and attitudes in the area of farm safety.
Project General description FARM Connect The Fitness, Awareness, Resilience, Meitheal (FARM) Connect initiative will work with farmers in Roscommon and Waterford to train them in areas of physical health, mental health and well-being. Farm Family CPD (Online) The Farm Family Continuous Professional Development (Online) will develop an online health and safety training programme to positively change people’s behaviour to mitigate risks that exist on family farms. Béal Átha na Muice Project The Béal Átha na Muice Project will work with farmers in Mayo to explore the mental challenges and strains associated with the process of farm succession and to provide supports to help the farm family to address these challenges. An Meitheal Feirme Project An Meitheal Feirme Project will provide farm families affected by sudden fatalities and traumas on farms with support and guidance in the aftermath of such an event to help the family deal with such challenges. Farmers Inspiring Farmers to be Safe The Farmers Inspiring Farmers to be Safe project will adopt a pilot ‘peer-to-peer’ mentoring and champion approach to engage farmers in an attitudinal and behavioural change towards farm safety by tackling social norms around farm safety by establishing a network of trained farm mentors in counties with significant farm fatality rates i.e. Cork, Tipperary and Wexford. Safe Farm The Safe Farm project will develop, deliver, assess and evaluate a bespoke farm-safety, farmer-training programme using a bottom-up, participatory approach. Initially a pilot of 200 farmers will take part in the Safe Farm programme, with the aim of establishing an accredited industry standard training programme. Eco-T The Eco-T project – a collaborative response to farmer mental health and suicide prevention and wellness – aims to promote positive mental health in the farming community through a series of facilitated eco therapy, adventure therapy, peer-to-peer support and stress management programmes. Sláinte agus Beatha Feirmoirí Conamara (SBFC) The SBFC project is aimed at promoting and enhancing on-farm health and safety at a local level on farms across the Connemara region. This will be achieved through a series of tools including risk assessments, training programmes, radio shows and active presence in schools across the region.