It has been announced today (Thursday, December 15) that Teagasc is to lead largest European Union (EU) farm safety project ever funded.

The EU has awarded €5 million in funding to a group led by Teagasc to develop and test farm safety solutions.

The landmark SafeHabitus project was launched at Teagasc Ashtown today by Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon.

The project, a Horizon Europe Innovation Action being coordinated by Dr. David Meredith at Teagasc, focuses on:

The SafeHabitus project kicks-off in January 2023 and will run for four years. It involves 20 leading academic and industry teams across 12 European countries.

Minister Heydon, who has responsibility for farm safety and research and innovation, congratulated the Teagasc-led group and its coordinator Dr. David Meredith on being awarded the research funding for the four-year project. 

Minister Heydon said: “This research funding recognises the leading role that Ireland, through its researchers and research institutions, is playing in efforts to improve farmer health and safety, not only here but across the EU.

"This project is another important step towards improving farmer safety and health by empowering farmers to change unsafe practices and adopt new, safer and healthier ways of working," he added.

Minister Heydon highlighted the important role previous research funding provided by the DAFM played in securing this Horizon Europe grant: “The 2017 project, ‘Be Safe', funded by my department supported work for the development of a safety programme to increase machine and livestock-related safety on farms.

Prof. Pat Dillon, director of research in Teagasc, said: “Building the sustainability of farming in Ireland is at the core of Teagasc strategy, and farmer health and safety are at the centre of social sustainability.

"This is critical to improving the social sustainability of farming across the EU and making farming an attractive career for future generations of farmers," Prof. Dillon added.

Dr. David Meredith, Teagasc, explained that they wanted to take what they have learnt in Ireland, particularly the importance of working closely with farmers, advisors, industry, regulators and policy makers, and replicate that across Europe.

"This gives us a platform to do that, show what we have learnt and, more importantly, to learn about farm safety from our partners in different countries and test these approaches with farmers and farm advisors in Ireland," he stated.