A €5m Teagasc-led research project seeking to develop on-farm safety measures has been launched by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon.
The SafeHabitus initiative will be the largest EU farm safety programme ever funded.
The project aims to increase the farm safety awareness of policymakers, farm organisations and public health authorities.
It will also seek to develop farm-led safety innovation and make recommendations on farming policies.
SafeHabitus will begin in January 2023 and is set to run over four years, involving 20 research and industry teams from across 12 European countries.
Support
Minister Heydon stated that the awarding of support through the Horizon Europe Innovation recognises Ireland’s contribution to research and its role in improving farmer safety.
He emphasised the role that safety plays in ensuring sustainability in the farming sector, from a social point of view.
“Farm safety is one of the most critical and social sustainability issues facing farming today. To have a sustainable agricultural sector, everyone working and living on farms must be kept safe,” Minister Heydon said.
Launching the SafeHabitus project was Minister of State Martin Heydon, project leader Dr David Meredith, Teagasc's Dr Maeve Henchion and Dr John McNamara of Teagasc. / Teagasc
“This project is another important step towards improving farmer safety and health by empowering farmers to change unsafe practices and adopt new, safer and healthier ways of working.”
Farm safety and sustainability
Researching health and safety is important for efforts to ensure better social sustainability, Teagasc director of research Professor Pat Dillon said.
The research head stated that improving farm safety will attract younger farmers to the sector and increase the attractiveness of farming as a career.
“With strong industry involvement from the outset, the SafeHabitus project will develop and test practical farm safety initiatives that can be used to support the adoption of safer farming practice,” Prof Murphy added.
“This is critical to improving the social sustainability of farming across the EU and making farming an attractive career for future generations of farmers.”
Applicable to other countries
The project will show that research conducted on farm safety here can be applied to the farming sector of other countries, according to Teagasc’s Dr David Meredith, who will head up the research.
“When we were developing the project, we wanted to take what we learned in Ireland, particularly the importance of working closely with farmers, advisers, industry, regulators and policy makers, and replicate that across Europe,” Dr Meredith commented.
"This gives us a platform to do that, show what we have learned and, more importantly, to learn about farm safety from our partners in different countries and test these approaches with farmers and farm advisers in Ireland.”
Building on previous work
Previous funding for research was provided by the Department of Agriculture, which Minister Heydon stated had helped to secure the EU grant.
“The 2017 project Be Safe funded by my Department supported work for the development of a safety programme to increase machine- and livestock-related safety on farms,” he said.
“It provided a platform for the researchers to build on and secure this new EU funding and affirms the crucial role of capacity building research by my Department.”
A €5m Teagasc-led research project seeking to develop on-farm safety measures has been launched by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon.
The SafeHabitus initiative will be the largest EU farm safety programme ever funded.
The project aims to increase the farm safety awareness of policymakers, farm organisations and public health authorities.
It will also seek to develop farm-led safety innovation and make recommendations on farming policies.
SafeHabitus will begin in January 2023 and is set to run over four years, involving 20 research and industry teams from across 12 European countries.
Support
Minister Heydon stated that the awarding of support through the Horizon Europe Innovation recognises Ireland’s contribution to research and its role in improving farmer safety.
He emphasised the role that safety plays in ensuring sustainability in the farming sector, from a social point of view.
“Farm safety is one of the most critical and social sustainability issues facing farming today. To have a sustainable agricultural sector, everyone working and living on farms must be kept safe,” Minister Heydon said.
Launching the SafeHabitus project was Minister of State Martin Heydon, project leader Dr David Meredith, Teagasc's Dr Maeve Henchion and Dr John McNamara of Teagasc. / Teagasc
“This project is another important step towards improving farmer safety and health by empowering farmers to change unsafe practices and adopt new, safer and healthier ways of working.”
Farm safety and sustainability
Researching health and safety is important for efforts to ensure better social sustainability, Teagasc director of research Professor Pat Dillon said.
The research head stated that improving farm safety will attract younger farmers to the sector and increase the attractiveness of farming as a career.
“With strong industry involvement from the outset, the SafeHabitus project will develop and test practical farm safety initiatives that can be used to support the adoption of safer farming practice,” Prof Murphy added.
“This is critical to improving the social sustainability of farming across the EU and making farming an attractive career for future generations of farmers.”
Applicable to other countries
The project will show that research conducted on farm safety here can be applied to the farming sector of other countries, according to Teagasc’s Dr David Meredith, who will head up the research.
“When we were developing the project, we wanted to take what we learned in Ireland, particularly the importance of working closely with farmers, advisers, industry, regulators and policy makers, and replicate that across Europe,” Dr Meredith commented.
"This gives us a platform to do that, show what we have learned and, more importantly, to learn about farm safety from our partners in different countries and test these approaches with farmers and farm advisers in Ireland.”
Building on previous work
Previous funding for research was provided by the Department of Agriculture, which Minister Heydon stated had helped to secure the EU grant.
“The 2017 project Be Safe funded by my Department supported work for the development of a safety programme to increase machine- and livestock-related safety on farms,” he said.
“It provided a platform for the researchers to build on and secure this new EU funding and affirms the crucial role of capacity building research by my Department.”
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