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Farmers have been reminded not to be complacent with safety after official figures showed a significant drop in the number of fatal accidents on NI farms in 2019.
The Health and Safety Executive for NI (HSENI) has confirmed that there was only one fatal farm accident in NI last year, which is down from seven farm deaths during 2018.
“The statistics are no excuse for complacency. Farms remain dangerous places to work and we would encourage everyone to look after themselves and others,” a HSENI spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.
The single incident during 2019 took place in November when 14-year old Abbie Nummy died in a farm accident near Newry.
The worst years for farm fatalities in the last decade were 2011 and 2012, when 12 people died during each year.
Aside from 2019, the next lowest fatalities occurred in 2013 when four deaths were recorded on NI farms.
The HSENI spokesperson said that there was no single reason for the drop in the number of fatalities in 2019. They pointed to greater awareness of safety among farmers, as well as the introduction of the Air Ambulance NI which has allowed seriously injured people to get to hospital quicker.
“Statistically, we would need to see the current downward trend continuing for a number of years before we could say for certain that we have made a lasting change,” the HSENI spokesperson said.
“Unfortunately, however, serious accidents are still occurring on farms and many of these could have resulted in a fatality,” they added.
Stakeholders in the Farm Safety Partnership are currently developing a new action plan for 2020 to 2023 which will focus on areas which continue to cause serious accidents on farms.
“We wish to maintain the downward trend in farm accidents and look forward to a time when there will be a year where there have been no tragic losses,” the HSENI spokesperson said.
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