Ahead of this year's Farm Safety Week, which begins on Monday (July 21), farmers are being urged to put safety to the fore of every task on their farm.

Initiated by the Farm Safety Foundation in the UK and led by the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) in Ireland, Farm Safety Week has the support of more than 400 partners across Ireland and the UK.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) with special responsibility for farm safety, Michael Healy-Rae, launched this year's event at the recent Teagasc Moorepark Dairy Open Day.

"However, farming doesn’t have to be dangerous if every effort is made to minimise or eliminate the hazards in our everyday work," Minister Healy-Rae said.

“Many of us, including myself, are fortunate to learn from an incident which could have left us with life-changing injuries or cost us our life.

"I am appealing to farmers to avoid taking risks because when there is an incident, the consequences can be tragic," he added

IFA president Francie Gorman said Farm Safety Week is a powerful reminder that no job on the farm is worth a life.

“As farmers, we face unique risks every day, but we also have the power to make safer choices.

“This week, I urge every farming family to stop, think, and take action to prevent accidents. Let’s protect ourselves, our loved ones, and our future,” he added.

While the chair of the IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Committee Teresa Roche said the rate of farm accidents and fatalities "is still far too high".

"It’s a painful reality that too many families in rural Ireland have faced. Farm Safety Week is a chance for all of us to take stock, change habits, and put safety at the heart of everything we do. One accident is one too many,” she said.The topics that will be covered throughout Farm Safety Week 2025 are:

Farmer health and wellbeing;
Eye Protection and the importance of personal protective equipment (PPE);
Vehicle and machinery safety;
Falls from heights;
Sepsis awareness;
Farm Safety Hero

Stephanie Berkeley, manager of the Farm Safety Foundation, the charity leading the campaign, said:

“Over the years we have seen the attitudes and behaviours around farm safety changing but the pace of change is slow – too slow for the families of those we have lost in the industry and too slow for the thousands of farmers suffering every day with long term ill-health or serious injuries as a result of their work.

“This year’s campaign offers an opportunity for a reset in the way we approach farm safety and risk-taking.

"It’s not somebody else’s job to drive this change in culture, and we cannot rely on luck when going about our daily tasks – luck has a habit of running out," she added.

Teagasc will be issuing daily safety messages through media channels and hold a series of farmyard design events during the course of the week.

“I have asked Teagasc advisors to raise farm safety in a positive manner with farmers at events and advisory visits especially during Farm Safety Week,” Professor Frank O’ Mara, Teagasc director, said.