merrion street

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Shane McEntee TD, has launched the Agri Aware Farm and Countryside Safety initiative at Dublin Zoo.

At the launch the Minister highlighted the very high rate of serious accidents on farms compared to other industries stating “Statistics show that accidents on farms cause more workplace deaths than all other occupations combined. It is also clear that the most vulnerable people to accidents and injury in the farming sector are the old and the young”. Minister McEntee went on to say that this problem could only be tackled by education and raising awareness within the farming community and that “no single action or organisation that can solve this difficult problem that impacts so negatively, on so many lives, each year. We must all work together with the single goal of preventing farm accidents and therefore saving lives and preventing serious injuries”.

The Farm and Countryside Safety project is located in the Family Farm at Dublin Zoo. It is supported by Agri Aware in conjunction with FBD Insurance, the IFA and ESB Networks. The programme will culminate with the production of a 2013 calendar featuring selected images of safety messages drawn or painted by children. The calendar will be sent to all primary schools in the country.