Farmers Urged to use Farm Safety Online Tool

Joint Statement from The Health and Safety Authority, Irish Farmers Association and FBD Insurance

Thursday 29th July

The Health & Safety Authority, the Irish Farmers Association and FBD Insurance have today come together with a joint appeal to farmers to avail of an online risk assessment system that is designed to enhance farm safety and reduce risk. The online tool has proven very popular with farmers and has attracted hundreds of hits since it was piloted in March. The system allows farmers to complete their farm safety statements in a user friendly fashion, and is the first of its kind for the agricultural sector in the world. The facility http://farmsafely.com/farmers/  means farmers can also keep their risk assessment statements up to date to ensure farm families carry out their work in the safest way possible. Martin O’Halloran, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) said, “Improving safety and health in Agriculture continues to represent one of our biggest challenges. By working together we can greatly raise safety standards and reduce farm accidents.

We believe this free online risk assessment tool will assist farmers in making their farms safer places to work and live for themselves, their children and their families. It has been developed with support from FBD, and with the knowledge that Irish farmers are recognised as European leaders when it comes to adopting new technologies. We are delighted that the IFA are supporting us in re-launching this on-line tool.”

IFA President John Bryan said the promotion of the online system was timely as activity on farms significantly increases during the summer and children are on their school holidays. “Farmers have embraced technology in many facets of their work and I have no doubt this online tool will continue to be a success. Farms are unique workplaces with a combination of livestock, machinery and family members young and old.  My advice to farmers is to prioritise health and safety as it is one of the most important aspects of their work. 

I would encourage farmers to undertake their own farm risk assessment and produce a farm safety statement as it is time well spent and will help avoid the anguish that follows a farm accident.”Andrew Langford, Chief Executive of FBD Insurance said, “As the leading provider of Insurance for farmers, we are acutely aware of the pain and suffering endured by farm families as a result of accidents on the farm. We can help put things right after such an event but our priority is to work closely with farmers to try and ensure accidents don’t occur in the first place.  This project is one such initiative which will make a major contribution to increased awareness and as a result, reduce the number of accidents on farms.”