No room for complacency when it comes to farm safety – Muir

The Farm Safety Foundation leads a nationwide ‘Yellow Wellies’ campaign across the UK to raise awareness of the risks associated with farming. In its tenth anniversary year, the charity is calling on all those involved in agriculture to take concrete actions to improve attitudes to safe farming.

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Speaking of the launch of Farm Safety Week, Minister Muir said: “Unfortunately, there are still avoidable deaths occurring on farms in Northern Ireland and the industry’s poor safety record has been slow to show improvement. There have been seven fatalities in the last 12 months, including the tragic death over the past weekend. We all recognise that farming and the high-quality food it produces is of tremendous importance to the local economy. We must also recognise the importance of every single individual involved in the sector and do what we can to help them go about their work without risk of serious harm or injury.

“I am fully supportive of the good work undertaken by the Farm Safety Foundation and our local Farm Safety Partnership to increase farm safety awareness. However there is no room for complacency and I urge all those who live and work on farms to think about their safety and the safety of others. Stop and think SAFE about the main hazards on farm - Slurry, Animals, Falls and Equipment.”

The objectives of Farm Safety Week 2024 are:

• To drive improvements in the health and wellbeing of those living and working in the sector;
• To encourage those living and working in farming to take concrete actions to improve their attitudes to farming safely in the UK and Ireland;
• To highlight, not only the excessive numbers suffering fatal injuries and accidents on UK & Ireland farms but the dangers of ignoring near misses at work; 
• To signpost farmers and farm workers to the resources available to help improve farm safety; and
• To shine a light on Farm Safety Heroes who are working to drive a positive change in the industry.

Further information and useful resources on farm safety can be found at the following link:

• The Farm Safety Partnership | Health and Safety Executive Northern Ireland

Notes to editors: 

1. The Farm Safety Partnership comprises the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), NFU Mutual (NFUM), the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU), The Farm Safety Foundation (FSF), the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association (NIAPA) and Rural Support. It is tasked with assisting Northern Ireland’s farming community to work safely and tackle the problem of work-related fatalities and injuries on farms.
2. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office: pressoffice.group@daera-ni.gov.uk or telephone: 028 9016 3460.
3. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800 hrs and 0800 hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
4. Follow DAERA on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.

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