Campaign makes safety on the farm a priority

Agri Aware is teaming up with farmers to bring tips for staying safe on farms for Farm Safety Week, which ends on July 26.

Through its social media channels, Agri Aware’s ‘Safety In Every Field’ social media campaign will highlight and raise awareness of dangers on farms and how to be safe while on a farm.

Farmers and agri businesses across the agricultural sector will share their farm safety tips on topics including safe livestock handling, tractor and quad safety, working safely with slurry, wearing correct PPE while dealing with chemicals and much more.

Raising awareness about farm safety has never been more important.

In its annual report released in June, the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) revealed that farming continues to have the highest number of fatalities, with 16 out of 43 (37%) workplace accident fatalities 2023.

Farm accidents result in physical and emotional consequences for farmers and their families, which is what this campaign aims to highlight and raise awareness through, by showing best practices while working on a farm.

The ‘Safety In Every Field’ campaign for Farm Safety Week aims to raise awareness not only within the farming community but also amongst the general public.

With schools recently finished for the summer holidays, children and adults should understand the potential dangers on farms they may be visiting.

Cork vet and president of Veterinary Ireland, Hazell Mullins, will be joining us for Farm Safety Week.

Hazell, who has a strong following of 17.500 people on Instagram, brings a wealth of veterinary and farming knowledge to her audience. She aims to provide Agri Aware followers with valuable insights into the use of a livestock crush, ensuring safer handling practices.

Speaking about the ‘Safety In Every Field’ campaign for Farm Safety Week, Agri Aware Chairman Shay Galvin said: “Highlighting the importance of being safe on farms has never been more essential.

“Farms can be hazardous, and without sharing knowledge on safe practices, accidents will continue to occur.

“This social media campaign aims to refresh those working on a farm to be aware of the dangers that are present on farms and how to be safe while working on a farm, be it with machinery or livestock for example.

“Furthermore, it can’t be emphasised enough that farms are not a playground and as such this campaign is very much relevant to those visiting farms, especially now during the school holidays, how they and their families can be safe.”

The public can access Agri Aware’s social media platforms, Instagram, X and TikTok to educate and engage with the advice from farmers during Farm Safety Week.

In 2024, Agri Aware has been busy in the farm safety space, rolling out its farm safety initiative ‘Safe Farm Futures’ in primary schools across the country.

To date, 23,647 students are enrolled in the programme with 60 workshops completed so far this year across 16 counties.

The programme aims to enhance safe farm practices among children to make the countryside and farms a safer place to live and work on.

Agri Aware, the independent farming and agri-food educational body, is a charitable trust whose mission is to improve the image and understanding of agriculture, farming and the food industry among the public.

Agri Aware is tasked with conveying the importance of the agri-food industry among the public and bridge the gap between producer and consumer.

It delivers high-impact educational and public awareness initiatives and projects for students and the public through its school programmes and at events nationwide.

Safe Farm Futures is a farm safety initiative created by Agri Aware which aims to enhance safety literacy among children to make the countryside and farms a safer place to live and work on.

The Safe Farm Futures programme attends primary school classes to discuss safety around machinery, safe livestock handling and taking care while in the countryside.

Agri Aware had its first farm safety demonstration at “Flavours of Fingal Show” at the end of June and hopes to continue throughout the year to demonstrate common safety issues on farms.

Safe Farm Futures has also recorded a series of webinars available on YouTube.