Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 April 2014
520. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has made any advances regarding farm safety in relation to the agitation process for slurry in view of the number of tragic deaths associated with same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17450/14]
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. The Department has taken a number of steps over recent 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 over the last three years, which were distributed each 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. In 2013 that Farm Safety message was entirely focused on safe slurry handling with the message that "ONE LUNGFUL OF SLURRY GAS CAN KILL" and also included the list of Safe Agitation Guidelines provided by my Department.
In November 2012, I launched the pilot Farm Safety Mentor Programme, an initiative by Irish Rural Link with the support of the HSA to enable farmers to become farm safety ambassadors in their own community. This morning, I launched the DVDs produced as part of the Programme they will now be used by the Farm Safety Mentors and others to help raise awareness of the dangers of slurry gas.
The HSA also produced an excellent DVD in recent times containing testimonials from 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'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 of farm safety that impacts, so horrendously, on so many lives. 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.
