‘Farm Safety Live’ is making its return to the Tullamore Show on Sunday 14th August 2022 and will be officially opened by Minister Martin Heydon, Minister of State with special responsibility for farm safety, along with Minister Charlie McConalogue, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, at 10.30am.  

Developed by FRS Training, HSA and FBD Insurance in conjunction with the Tullamore Show the interactive farm safety demonstrations aim to get people thinking more about safety on the farm, giving them practical tips and actions to take home.   

Organisers of the event are asking people to always ‘think farm safety’ when approaching tractors, quads, machinery and before handling livestock in a bid to improve farm safety.  Practical tips will be demonstrated and discussed that can be applied to the farm every day. Everyone is invited to take part in the interactive displays throughout the day.

Unfortunately, the agricultural sector is still the most dangerous working environment in Ireland reporting the highest number of fatalities each year.  Farm fatality statistics reported by the HSA over the last 10 years show that 197 people lost their lives due to a farm accident. 87 of these accidents involved vehicles, 16 machinery and 38 were related to livestock with the young and elderly tending to be the main victims. 

Pat Griffin, HSA said, “Tractors, Quads and other farm vehicles are involved in the vast majority of farm fatalities. It’s appropriate that we will focus on farm vehicle safety in our demo area at Farm Safety Live. People and large farm vehicles are a potentially deadly mix. Every effort should be made to keep everyone particularly vulnerable people away from work activities involving tractors and large farm vehicles. A good handbrake on your tractor is critically important and I ask all farmers to pledge to ensure the handbrake is working and it is properly applied. Working together we can make farming a safer business and protect ourselves and our loved ones”.

Peter Slattery, FRS Training added: “Demonstrations provide a proven way to influence people’s behaviours.  Actively observing routine farm practices allows farm family members to stand back and see the devastating consequences of some common actions when things go wrong.  Each year a new generation is exposed to the ever-present risks on family farms. Continuously highlighting the dangers, together with providing training aimed at developing a risk averse culture on farms is essential.  The Tullamore Show is a great way to maintain a focus on these key messages as large numbers of farm families will attend the event.”

Ciaran Roche, Risk Manager, FBD Insurance, said, “The continuing high numbers of serious and fatal accidents in the agricultural sector is cause for serious concern. Now is the time to challenge ourselves to work more safely and to stop taking risks. All stakeholders need to work together as a farming community to break the cycle of risk-taking behaviour. If we can create a positive safety culture on farms, behavioural change and safer farming practices will follow. At FBD Insurance we are pleased to see the question of farm safety being acknowledged at the Tullamore Show. We urge farmers to visit Farm Safety Live at the Tullamore Show and to always Think Farm Safety!”.

Chelsey Cox McDonald, Secretary of Tullamore Show said, “We were delighted to have Farm Safety Live return this year. It is so vital and important to showcase this aspect as part of the show programme. We would ask everyone to “think farm safety” and eliminate the risks where possible. It is heart breaking to comprehend the number of families effected each year by tragedies on farms”.

Keep up to date on Farm Safety Live and win tickets to the Tullamore Show at  www.facebook.com/farmsafetylive over the coming weeks. Also check out this video vimeo.com/730291392 on the live demonstrations.