The number of people killed and injured on farms across Europe is significantly higher than previously thought, an Irish-led project has discovered.
Agriculture is already classed as one of the most dangerous types of work.
According to the EU’s statistics agency, Eurostat, there were 382 deaths in 2021, accounting for more than one in ten of all fatal accidents at work. More than 120,000 people were injured in agriculture, forestry and fisheries jobs.
Now an analysis by an Irish-led project has discovered that those numbers could under-estimate the scale of the problem by at least 70 per cent.
The Safe Habitus project, funded by the EU’s Horizon programme, was set up to strengthen farm health and safety.
“Enhancing awareness and understanding of risks and hazards [on farms] is only part of the solution. Changing habitual and culturally conditioned practices is key to driving health and safety”, it says.
In Ireland, farming has the highest fatality rate of any sector, according to the agriculture agency Teagasc. Ireland’s Health and Safety Authority says 16 people died on farms here last year.
Local news reports suggest that so far this year at least seven people have died in accidents on farms in Ireland, including a 19-year-old man who was killed following a tractor crash in Galway earlier this month.
Dr David Meredith from the Safe Habitus project says that Europe-wide it is a bigger problem than has been realised until now.
“We have completed a detailed analysis of the data available to EU policy stakeholders and found that the average number of farm fatalities is at least 70 percent higher than the data reported to Eurostat each year. So, whilst the Eurostat data indicates that there are an average of 315 occupational deaths on farms each year, the reality is that the true figure is, at least, 545 deaths.”
“This finding helps improve our understanding of the scale of the challenge faced by farmers, farm workers, farm families and rural communities. It also highlights the need for continued support for investment in farm facilities and equipment that improve safety and the development or adoption of safer farming practices.”
The SafeHabitus project was developed by Teagasc and 19 partner organisations from across the EU to get a better understanding about farmers’ working conditions and quality of life.
The project will make recommendations to the EU as to how safety can be improved.