Trade union SIPTU said it willing to help develop a new Safe Pass programme for farmers in a bid to further improve farm safety.
According to the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) a total of 33 people lost their lives in work-related incidents in 2024, a reduction of almost a quarter on the previous year.
The construction sector, in particular, saw a significant decline from 10 fatalities in 2023 to five in 2024, a decline of 50%, while the agriculture sector saw a decrease from 20 fatalities in 2023 to 12 last year, a reduction of 40%.
The HSA said that agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 12 workplace fatalities in 2024, all of which were farming incidents representing over a third of all fatalities from a sector employing just 4% of the workforce.
SIPTU
John Regan, SIPTU construction sector organiser, told Agriland that the Safe Pass programme has been in place for construction workers for over 20 years.
Safe Pass is a mandatory safety awareness training programme for construction workers, with the one-day programme allowing them to work on construction sites.
Trade unions and employers initially came together to bring about the programme, with the training, which is devised and regularly updated by Solas, now being delivered by private operators.
Regan said that SIPTU is willing to engage with farm organisations and industry stakeholders to draw up a similar programme for the agriculture sector.
“Farming has been repeatedly identified as high risk and fatalities are always a concern in that industry,” he said.
In its data, the HSA groups farming with the related sectors of fisheries and forestry.
“That whole community of workers don’t have a formal training programme in place and I think the model of the construction one is something that that industry should look at,” Regan said.
Safe Pass
The SIPTU organiser explained that once construction workers have completed the one-day training they are issued with a licence for four years.
He added that under legislation the cost of the 8-hour course is borne by the employer.
Regan said that the rollout of the Safe Pass programme has saved lives in the construction sector and workers see a value in it.
“It is the sort of programme that for the last 20 years has been bringing about good results. Better results can be got but without it, there is not doubt about it, there would be greater incidents,” he said.
In terms of funding such a programme for the farming sector, Regan pointed to a central training fund, worth around €1.8 billion, to which all employers contribute under Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI).
“The government should be providing and should be supporting these types of initiatives. That money is there. It’s another way of funding a brand new programme for the farming community,” Regan said.
“The farming community needs to come together and let’s see can we bring about a programme that actually saves lives, because that’s what we’re all about at the end of the day,” he added.