Safety: 'We need to treat farms like building sites' - Healy-Rae
Farm safety needs to be modelled on the approach taken on building sites, according to Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) Micheal Healy-Rae.
The comments follow provisional figures from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) showing that there were 23 deaths in the agriculture sector in 2025.
This accounts for 40% of all work-related fatalities last year (58), from a sector employing approximately 4% of the workforce.
The construction sector recorded 10 fatalities compared to five in 2024.
In the coming year, the HSA said it will deliver a programme of risk-based, evidence-led workplace health and safety inspections across all sectors of the economy.
Safety
Minister Healy-Rae, who has responsibility for farm safety, told Agriland that "2025 was very sad and very life changing for so many families" in terms of farm deaths and injuries.
"What I keep pleading with everybody is there's no-one perfect, every one of us has made mistakes, but we have to improve.
"What I'm modelling our farms on now is our building sites. Building sites in Ireland were a dangerous place one time, quite a dangerous place.
"The amount of incidents, accidents, deaths, everything. It was very, very bad, but we improved," he said.
"We have to treat our farm yards, our farms the same as we treat the building sites.
"In other words, we have to be so conscientious about what we do, how we do it, the methods of work, whether it's dealing with animals, whether it's dealing with farm machinery, working around yards, all of those sorts of things," he added.
Minister Healy-Rae said that he will be using an enhanced farm safety budget in 2026 to work together with the farming sector to reduce the amount of farm deaths and injuries.
"We're constantly analysing exactly what is happening and the type of accidents they are," he said.
The minister urged farmers to consider safety before undertaking jobs on the farm including working at heights, wearing protective clothing and having measures in place, such as power take-off (PTO) covers.
"Sometimes the best job you ever did is the job you didn't do at all, or the job that you stopped, and said, 'Right, I'm going to get help here'," he said.
The minister also emphasised the importance of teaching young people the safe and correct way to work on farms.
Quads
Minister Healy-Rae urged farmers to wear a helmet when using quads, complete the necessary training and consider installing a rollover protection system.
"I know the strongest of men, personal friends of mine, who were what I'd call giants of men, and they got caught under quads and it did them serious, serious damage," he said.
Ahead of the busy spring calving season, Minister Healy-Rae stressed the need for vigilance around freshly calved cows.
"Remember the quietest cow in the whole world when she calves down, if you do go near that cow, that cow can turn on you so quick and be a completely different animal.
"It's just about being careful all the time. You are tired, you're more vulnerable, you're burnt out, you're hung between the ropes from tiredness.
"All of a sudden, then it's easy, to make an error, judgment, been there, done that, all of us have. It's just to mind yourself," he said.
