‘No panic and no rush’ is a basic rule of safe farming

“DON’T rush – just stop and take your time,” was one of the key messages at the IFA Farm Safety Evening held in Menlough last week, an event attended by over 200 farmers.

Roy O’Brien, Galway-Mayo IFA Regional Executive, told the Farming Tribune that taking ‘the panic’ and ‘the rush’ out of the farming work routine would be one of the single biggest contributors to a safer farming environment for all.

“We all know how farmers can get caught up in the rush of doing jobs like silage, hay and slurry but we are asking farmers to step back a little, be patient, and to plan and ‘take their time’ doing those jobs,” said Roy O’Brien.

A highlight of the Farm Safety Evening – hosted by Micheál Owens, his wife Norah and family, on their  farm at Ballagh, Menlough – was a demonstration given by the Air Corps on their Emergency Aeromedical Service (EAS), a free service that has often come to the aid of farmers in emergency medical situations.

Two survivors of slurry gas poisoning – Jarlath Farrell from Togher, Tuam and Eoin Daly, Kilconnell – also gave gripping first-hand accounts of how quickly ‘the lights can go out’ when someone is subjected to slurry fumes.

There were six different strands to the farm safety evening dealing with the key issues of machinery, livestock, slurry gases, tractors, quads and first-aid.

Among those who gave talks and demos on the evening were, Keith Fahy (Teagasc), Francis Bligh (Teagasc), Andy Moore (jeep/trailer regulations), William Shorthall (IFA Safety Executive), Sgt. Michael Walsh (Garda Crime Prevention Officer), Patrick Kelly (FBD) and Ahascragh Veterinary Surgeon, Conor Geraghty and representatives from Bank of Ireland

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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