The number of farm related deaths for 2011 may surpass last year’s 20 year high a conference in Dublin organised by the Health and Safety Authority, Teagasc and the Farm Safety Partnership Advisory Committee heard yesterday. The fatality figures have already reached 16 for the year, in 2010 there were 26 deaths in total for the year.

Accidents with machinery and falls have been attributed as the cause of the majority of farm work injuries. The event which is the first time an international meeting on agricultural occupational health and safety had been held in Ireland was attended by Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney who said, ‘People working on farms need to be more conscious of safety requirements, in particular since in many instances they are working on their own. A significant change in mindset is required if we are to prevent further serious farm accidents’.