Safe Family Farm Schools Competition Winner

Mikey Murphy and Padraig Hunt are sixth-year agricultural science students in St Michael’s College, Listowel, Co Kerry.

Under the guidance of their agricultural science teacher Fiona Griffin, they came up with the concept of designing a map of their farm that contained all the hazards or potential hazards on the farm, indicating the danger they present by using a colour scale on the map. This map will be positioned at the entry point of the farm so it is accessible to all.

“Our idea stemmed from all the stories that we have heard of people being involved in farm accidents. These stories fuelled our ambition to create a map that would not only give visitors, farmers and employed workers a clear and accurate outline of the farm, but would also highlight danger zones which could result in the death or serious injury to the unsuspecting person.

“We decided to produce a map of a family farm that is colour coded in specific areas to symbolise the risk that these areas hold. The aerial map has a key with two colours – orange and red. Orange represents an area that possess a medium threat but is still capable of inflicting serious injury, while red represents an area which possesses a serious danger which, if approached carelessly, can result in death.

“Examples of orange areas include female animal pens and storage areas for round bales. Examples of red areas include machinery yards, manhole covers, bull pens and slurry storage tanks.

“On our map, we have also included a list of chemicals used on the farm. This is to assist the emergency service so that if they arrive at the scene of a chemical accident they know what chemicals may be involved.

“What really stood out to us about farm safety in Ireland is that it often takes an accident to happen in order for anything effective to be done to prevent a future accident.

“While we understand that you cannot prepare against every possible farm accident, we strongly believe our idea will be successful in helping reduce the number of people who are killed or seriously injured on farms annually.”

The students plan to make a digital version of the map as this would allow for easy changes to be made as the farms develops.

The Safe Family Farm’s Schools competition is a joint initiative between ESB Networks and the Irish Farmers Journal. We would like to thank ESB Networks for their continued support in this joint initiative.

Case Study: ‘There was almost 7ft of slurry in the tank. I am 6ft tall, so for a period of time I was submerged’

As part of their entry, Mikey and Padraig spoke to a survivor of a farm accident to give them an insight into the dangers present on farms. He asked to remain anonymous

“On the morning of 17 January 2017, I decided to agitate an underground slurry tank. Once finished, I lifted the agitator out of the tank and pulled forward. While doing this, I received a phone call regarding medical supplies for two of my children who are diabetic. I was distracted and totally forgot to return to close the tank cover.

“Later that evening, I returned to the shed to check the cattle. I walked from the dwelling house, entered the shed and turned on the lights. I picked up a plastic bucket from the passageway to get feed from a grain silo bin, located just outside the shed. I walked out from the lit up passageway, turning right to go to the silo bin. There is no external lighting. The opening to the tank is on this walkway and I walked straight into the opened underground tank.

“There was almost 7ft of slurry in the tank. I am 6ft tall, so for a period of time I was submerged in the slurry.

“I had nothing to grab on to. I searched for a corner and found shuttering pins. These allowed me to get my head above the slurry.

“Fortunately, the bucket that I was carrying had also fallen in. I managed to get this to the floor and use it to stand on, giving me a 1ft base. My head was now just above the slurry.

“My mobile phone is not a smartphone but an old button phone. Despite being submerged in slurry the phone still worked, but the screen was unclear.

“I was able to phone my wife, a neighbour and the emergency services. I was able to speak but could not hear as my ears were full of slurry. Fortunately my wife responded and I got out using a ladder. I was in there for 33 minutes.

“It is my mission to highlight how important a phone that suits its environment really is and that it is much more important to be able to make that call than using a phone for data entry on a farm.

“My father died in January 1998 in a farm-related accident. I am very conscious about safety ever since.”