The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) has today (Thursday, December 8) launched a farm safety awareness campaign aimed at older farmers.
‘Farming gets riskier with age’ is aimed at helping keep older farmers safer by asking them to consider their physical limitations before undertaking jobs on the farm.
According to HSENI, of the 127 farm deaths that occurred in Northern Ireland between January 2002 and December 2021, 67 concerned farmers aged 65 or older.
The majority of incidents involved animals, typically bulls or newly calved cows, the safety executive said.
Launching the campaign at the 36th Royal Ulster Winter Fair in Lisburn today, HSENI principal inspector, Camilla Mackey, said: “No matter what nature of work we undertake, as we get older, things can become more difficult.
“For older farmers especially, given the challenging conditions and environment they work in night and day, we would ask them to assess the jobs they are doing, know their limitations, and consider asking for help.”
Chair of the Farm Safety Partnership, Harry Sinclair, welcomed the campaign.
“Older farmers represent the backbone of our agricultural community. Many will have taught their sons and daughters the ‘farming way of life’ and helped them develop the many skills needed to manage a farm successfully,” Sinclair said.
“For those mature farmers, I would ask them to continue to lead by example, and when assessing jobs around the farm and take a moment and consider asking for help, especially for trickier jobs.
“By taking this simple step they can help ensure their own safety and demonstrate to the next generation how to keep safe on the farm.”