Farm Safety Code of Practice – Online Risk Assessment Tool Available to All Farmers
Macra na Feirme takes the safety of all farmers very seriously and due to the frightening rise in farm deaths reported in 2010, (7 farm related fatalities in the first two months of 2010, this figure is half of the total farm fatalities for 2009). Macra would recommend all farmers complete the farm Risk Assessment available to them, this assessment is sponsored by FBD.
This electronic version of the Risk Assessment document allows you to fill in and save the risk assessment electronically. It will store your risk assessment which you can look at and update at any time by logging onto www.farmsafely.com
According to the HSA 'It is a legal requirement to have a safety statement which includes a risk assessment on your farm. If you have 3 or less people working on your farm you can use the Farm Safety Code of Practice to comply with your legal requirement. This electronic means of completing your risk assessment has several advantages;
• You can find your Code of Practice Risk Assessment easily when you need it
• It maintains a record of when you did your risk assessments
• You can plan and print out your safety action list
• You will get e-mails reminding you of actions you need to take and when you need to do your annual risk assessment review
• You can get safety alerts
Farmers need to be continuously safety conscious as working on farms with machinery and animals can be a dangerous career, Mr. Gowing, Macra na Feirme, National President said ‘farming is a demanding and physical profession with farmers having less time and support available to them, however, it is vital that they do not cut corners. This can only lead to serious accidents and loss of lives. Farmers must realise that they are not invincible and must be active in assessing potential safety risks on their farms’.
