Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
928. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine in view of the recent tragedies involving farmers agitating slurry his views on whether he will send out a helpful informative leaflet about the dangers of toxic gases from slurry and how serious the consequences can be if a person is unaware of the dangers involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48397/12]
View answerMy Department is very strongly committed to promoting Farm Safety in collaboration with the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), the organisation with primary responsibility for securing health and safety at work, particularly from an enforcement point of view. The Department has taken a number of steps over the past year in tandem with some of the other State and industry organisations to both raise awareness of the problem and educate farmers and their families on the dangers of working in this industry.
One such measure taken by my Department was the inclusion of a Farm Safety message with the Single Payment application packs, which were distributed in March of this year to over 130,000 farmers. This was a joint initiative between my Department, the Health and Safety Authority and the Farm Safety Partnership Committee and led to each of those farmers receiving an individual reminder of the importance of farming safely, and the potentially fatal consequences of not doing so.
The HSA produced an excellent DVD earlier this year containing testimonials from 6 individual farmers who provide an emotional telling of their experiences on farm which led to either fatalities or serious injury. This DVD has been widely circulated and is included in all training courses undertaken by my Department.
Teagasc and the HSA distributed a leaflet entitled “Safe Slurry handling” at the ploughing championships in September which details the safe operating procedures for the agitation of slurry and details the dangers of slurry gas.
My Department, in conjunction with Teagasc, had a joint article in the Irish Farmers Journal of 3rd November 2012 about the requirements for inspection of slatted units and the safety issues around this. The Department’s specification for bovine livestock units and reinforced tanks (S.123) gives detailed advice in relation to the safe agitation of slurry, and safe design of tanks.
There is no single action or organisation that can solve this difficult problem that impacts so horrendously, on so many lives, each year. Since taking office, I have continuously strived to increase awareness of safety issues among farmers which I believe is the key to changing the way we all think about farm safety on Irish farms. We must all work together with the single goal of preventing farm accidents and therefore saving lives and minimising serious injuries.
