Major investment in farm safety announced

Minister of State with responsibility for Farm Safety at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon has confirmed the provision of funding to Teagasc for the procurement of farm machinery simulators for use in agricultural colleges.
Minister of State Heydon said: “My priority is the health, safety and wellbeing of our farmers, and this investment of over €1.25m in 18 agricultural machinery simulators represents a significant step up in the efforts of my Department and Teagasc to improve the safety record around farm machinery and tractors. They will be in use in all the agricultural colleges in the coming academic year.”
Farming accounted for approximately 42% of fatal workplace incidents in the period 2011 – 2020, yet only 6% of the working population is employed in the sector.
Over half of fatal farm incidents are associated with tractors, farm vehicles and machinery. Teagasc National Farm Survey data indicates that about 700 farm vehicle and machinery incidents take place annually.
The provision of enhanced training on agricultural machinery is an essential tool to improve the safety record of the agriculture sector in Ireland.