The most vital asset on your farm

Health and safety are essential farm management functions. Injury and ill health have the potential to cause tragedy, pain, suffering, ongoing disability, and disruption to the capacity to farm effectively, leading to both on-farm and off-farm income loss. To date in 2025, 16 farm deaths have occurred, with nine victims aged over 65 years. Farm vehicle – particularly tractors – livestock, and working at heights are the biggest fatal risk factors on farms. The current 2025 number of fatalities is higher than in 2024, when 12 fatalities occurred.

Injury-causing accidents

About 4,500 farm accidents occur each year, based on National Farm Survey estimates. The major causes include livestock (47 per cent), trips, falls, blows, and buildings-related incidents (31 per cent), farm vehicles or machinery (11 per cent), and ‘other’ (11 per cent). Most accidents (80 per cent) require medical treatment. Of these, 46 per cent of victims attend hospital, 18 per cent visit a doctor, and 16 per cent require first aid. Thirty-two per cent of those injured are unable to work for between one and three days. A further 23 per cent report being unable to work for between four and 30 days, and some for between 31 and 60 days. Eighty-four per cent of farm accidents occur on farms operated by farmers aged over 50 years.

Safety as part of farm management

Farming hazards and associated risks are always present, so health and safety must be constant, ongoing components of farm management. There is continuous movement on farms involving machinery, loads, livestock, and people, so the potential for an accident is always present. An accident occurs when a source of force strikes the body or when a vital bodily function is impaired (e.g., breathing or blood circulation). The key to dynamic risk assessment is to remain alert for emerging dangers and take immediate preventive action. Farm accidents can have multiple causes, but managing farm health and safety principally involves two areas: the physical workplace, and work behaviour.

Physical workplace

Keeping the workplace free of physical risks is essential to preventing accidents. This reduces risk and supports the implementation of safe behaviours. Heavy workload, long hours, tiredness, and rushing are all associated with increased accident risk. Managing your farm and farmyard to reduce workload and allow a balance between work, leisure, and rest is crucial for sustainable farming.

Work behaviour

Given the dynamic nature of farm work, physical controls alone will not prevent accidents. Supporting safe behaviour is essential. The behaviour of people while working is a factor in over 90 per cent of accidents generally. In agriculture, because of the wide range of tasks involving risk, farmer behaviour is particularly critical to preventing injury.
Most Irish farms are operated by self-employed workers (more than 90 per cent) who make their own work-related decisions. Therefore, behavioural safety is vital for both self-employed and family workers.
An Irish study found that only 26 per cent of farmers take safe actions on an ongoing basis. A further 57 per cent compromise safety by taking unnecessary risks, while 17 per cent fall into a neutral category. Safety practices are learned, enacted, and passed to the next generation, so improving behavioural aspects of farm safety is vital for future progress.

Completing a risk assessment

Accidents can be prevented through planning and completing a risk assessment is a way to consider all aspects of health and safety on your farm. It is also a legal requirement under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005. Two risk assessment formats are available to assist farmers: the risk assessment document (available online at hsa.ie) and the BeSMART online tool.

Risk assessment document

This green-covered document is available from the Health and Safety Authority and Teagasc. It is designed for smaller-scale farms with three or fewer employees. The document includes hazard control sheets covering all aspects of farming. Each sheet has key questions related to both the physical workplace and behavioural requirements.
All aspects of the farm should be considered when completing the risk assessment. Where controls are missing, a farm safety action page is provided to plan and implement the necessary measures.
Irish research indicates that farmers who complete the actions listed on their risk assessment action page achieve acceptable safety standards. The key message is that managing safety requires continuous action.

2. BeSMART online tool
The BeSMART tool is aimed at farms with four or more employees but can be used on farms of any size. BeSMART tools are available for agriculture and agri-business enterprises, including dairy and beef farms.
The BeSMART tool can be accessed at
www.besmart.ie. Once registered, a user can complete and save risk assessment sheets for all hazard categories relevant to the farm. Consultation arrangements with employees are required to be specified. When the document is complete, it can be saved or downloaded.

Inter-generational family farming

Family farming is the predominant model of agriculture in Ireland. All individuals working or living on a farm are at risk, as are those who may be present on the farm or in proximity to farm activities. Farm risk applies particularly to both children and youth, as well as older members of the family. Special attention must also be given to the risks faced by female members of the farm family. The following sections outline key considerations for each group.

Farm operator
The farm operator, or the person primarily responsible for operating the farm, has a legal and moral duty to manage the farm from a safety perspective. This individual must lead and motivate other family members and workers to maintain acceptable safety standards and practices. Because workload is closely associated with farm safety, the operator should strive to streamline activities in order to allow a satisfactory work–life balance for everyone involved.

Children and youth
Children and youth typically acquire their safety values from adult family members. However, Irish research has found that young people influenced by their families, friends, or neighboring farmers are more likely to underestimate farm injury risk and are therefore considered ‘risk optimistic’. A significant proportion of young people working or living on farms have experienced a work-related injury, a near miss, or have knowledge of a farm-related death or injury. These individuals reported significantly greater farm injury risk perception and were more likely to adopt ‘risk averse’ behaviour, meaning they exercise more caution. This research suggests that greater efforts should be made to instil positive safety values in children and young people from an early age.

Older family members
The majority of fatal farm accidents in Ireland involve older family members. All work performed by older farmers should be risk assessed. Encouraging older farmers to ‘step back’ from hazardous tasks can be challenging. Identifying who holds influence within the family structure can help establish positive communication channels to improve farm safety.

Female family members
Specific risks should be assessed for female members of farm families in addition to general farm hazards. For example, guidelines related to musculoskeletal injury indicate that, on average, a woman may lift about two-thirds of what a man can lift. The TILE principle – task, individual, load, and environment – should be applied when assessing lifting activities.
Another critical area of concern is the risk of infection from animals during pregnancy, such as toxoplasmosis. In addition, the use of farm chemicals requires careful attention to hazard warning symbols and information related to reproductive toxicity. Appropriate safety measures must be taken to mitigate these risks.