Managing Health and Safety in Agriculture in Ireland

20 September 2010

Since the passing into law of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, completion of Risk Assessment document under a Farm Safety Code of Practice has been the key approach adopted to gain systematic management of health and safety by farmers.

The document was designed in the light of considerable research and experience with usage of various document types by farmers in Ireland. It adopts a novel approach to ‘hazard identification, risk assessment and specification of controls’ which fits best into a farmers mind-set regarding risk assessment. The Code of Practice/ Risk Assessment documents can be viewed at the HSA website. The website includes a link to the online risk assessment tool from Farm safely.  You need to register to see the tool.

The Risk Assessment document identifies the hazards related to various aspects of farming based on a 10-year review of fatal accidents on farms. The risks associated with the various hazards  are then described visually on pie charts. A farmer then is guided to identifying controls which are in place and which are required by addressing a series of statements related to his/her farm. Pictures were included in the risk assessment document to assist farmers.  A matrix format is used to allow the full range of farming facilities/activities to be considered. When the presence/absence of controls has been assessed a farmer then states what action is required on a separate ‘Action List’ page.

A further document  called a Safe System of Work Plan, which uses pictograms and requires the minimum amount of writing  can be used by a farmer to up-date their Risk Assessment on a regular basis.

An evaluation of the pilot implementation of the Code of Practice Risk Assessment by farmers can be viewed at the HSA website. The evaluation indicates that farmers found the document easy to understand (87%) and that the number of statements to be addressed was about right (86%). Visual presentation of information was rated highly with pie charts showing data was rated as useful (97%) and pictures of controls aided communications in 96% of cases.

However, the research conducted indicated that the key to managing health and safety on farms was the implementation of controls at farm level. A significant relationship was observed between the safety rating and controls implemented (p=<.001). Those who received an unsatisfactory safety rating had implemented no improvements compared to 70% implementing controls of farms receiving a satisfactory rating. On farms receiving a satisfactory rating no hazards requiring legal enforcement action were observed.   Dairy farms working long hours were particularly identified for non implementation of health and safety controls.

Further research is indicated to evaluate the implementation of controls by farmers over a longer term period and to investigate what assistance is needed by a minority of farmers who are not satisfactorily managing health and safety on their farms.  

Prepared by Mr John McNamara CMIOSH, IOSH Rural Industries Group Committee member.  

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH). Where the content includes discussion and information about UK law or occupational health matters, this should not be regarded as legal or medical advice. Where legal advice is required, a suitably qualified lawyer should be consulted. Where medical advice is required, a suitably qualified medical practitioner should be consulted.