Putting the issue of farm safety first and foremost remains the number one challenge facing Irish agriculture today.

It’s that time of the year when large tractors in tandem with silage and feeding equipment are being used in farm yards on an almost round-the-clock basis.

The potential for accidents to occur while all this activity is taking place is immense.

Modern farming practices are centred on the use of machinery and equipment that are powerful, sophisticated and requiring in-depth knowledge and experience on the part of operators in order to secure the highest levels of performance from them.

Take tractors as a case in point. The models available today are comparable to Formula One racing cars, relative those that were coming on to the market 10 years ago.

And all of this horse power brings with it a very obvious health and safety risk.

Gone are the days when a tractor engine could be heard from some distance away. Today’s models are super sleek, super quick and super silent.

As a consequence young children and even older adults may not be aware of a tractor coming at them from inside a building for all of the reasons referenced above.   

Farm safety education

Given this backdrop, surely there is a need for farmers to secure ongoing – and formal education opportunities - on how to best manage and operate machinery throughout their careers.

Within other professions this is called continuing professional development (CPD). And one could also argue that a failure to undertake this commitment would have direct consequences for farmers in terms of the way their run their businesses.

Linking CPD to the attainment of insurance could be one possible direction of travel. Another option would be to link the attainment of CPD validation to the securing of farm support monies.

Meanwhile, farming continues to ‘enjoy’ the dubious accolade of being the most dangerous profession in Ireland today.

Previously, construction was Ireland’s most dangerous industry to work within. This situation changed when previous Irish governments decided to crack down hard on the abuses taking place within that sector.

Enhanced rates of inspection and follow-up prosecutions, when and where required, acted to significantly improve health and safety standards on building sites.

Everyone agrees that one farm accident is one too many.

All it takes is for farmers and farm workers to take the one extra minute required to think through the health and safety implications of every job they are about to start.

Nobody can be so busy that taking such a small amount of time out of one’s working day cannot be justified.