A man aged in his 60s has died in an accident on a farm in Co. Cork, Gardaí have confirmed.
Gardaí attended the scene of the incident in the area of Drimoleague in the southwest of the county.
The body of the man was recovered at around 3:30p.m yesterday (Thursday, March 3, 2022).
A statement from Gardaí confirmed: “Gardaí and emergency services attended a fatal workplace accident in Drimoleague in Cork yesterday, March 3, 2022.
“At approximately 3:30p.m the body of a man [in his 60s] was located on a farm in the area,” the statement added.
The body of the deceased was removed from the scene to Cork University Hospital where a post-mortem exam will take place in due course.
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) will now conduct an investigation, Gardaí confirmed.
Sadly, this is not the first farm death of 2022.
Last month, Gardaí confirmed the death of a woman on a farm in Co. Laois on Monday, January 31.
In a statement, a spokesperson said that gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of a fatal workplace accident on a farm in the Portlaoise area yesterday evening.
“A woman in her 60s was fatally injured during this incident and pronounced dead at the scene,” the garda spokesperson added.
The HSA also confirmed that it is aware of that incident.
Chair of the Laois branch of the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), John Fitzpatrick, had offered his condolences to the woman’s family and friends.
“On behalf of Laois IFA and myself as county chairman, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family. Our thoughts are with them, the community and all involved at this sad time,” Fitzpatrick said.
During the course of 2021, nine people lost their lives in accidents on Irish farms.
Although that was down from the 20 fatalities recorded in the previous year, Minister of State with responsibility for business, employment and retail, Damien English said that “farming remains one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work in Ireland”.
In response to a parliamentary question last month (January 19, 2022) from Cork Social Democrats TD, Holly Cairns, the minister said that there were 113 accidents reported on Irish farms in 2021.
However, he noted that there is a “significant underreporting of non-fatal work-related incidents in agriculture as most are self-employed sole traders”.