Human error and inappropriate use of machines were the main reasons for farm accidents that claimed the lives of 16 people last year, including one child, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food, Mr John Browne, said yesterday.
Officially opening the Farm Machinery Show in Punchestown yesterday, the Minister said that farming had a higher rate of fatalities than any other workplace and farm workers had to constantly be reminded of that.
"Non-fatal accidents also bring disability, suffering and economic hardship on those affected by accidents. Between 1998 and 2003, 41 per cent of farm fatalities were due to crush injuries from tractors and other machinery and 17 per cent were due to entanglement with machinery," he said.
The Minister said this had happened despite the fact that manufacturers had devised and installed many new safety features on machines over the past 20 years and there had been a concentration on safety.
"The main reason for accidents is due to human error rather than mechanical failings. Accidents are mainly caused either by the inappropriate use of the machine, such as driving on excessive slopes resulting in the machine turning over, or carrying out repairs or adjustments whilst the machine is running," he said.
He said the other main cause of accidents was allowing children operate or come in contact with some part of a machine.
Saying children must be kept well away from machinery on farms, he said this was even more important now because of the power of new machines and the fact there are fewer people around farms to keep an eye on children.
There was an estimated €20 million worth of equipment on display at the 144 trade stands at the machinery show yesterday.
With most of the tractors on display costing well over €50,000 each, the sale of tractors has become a barometer of how the farming sector is faring.
Despite the insecurity created by the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy last year, tractor sales were only slightly down and that was because in the previous year, 2003, many farmers had rushed out and registered their tractors in January for the now famous IFA "tractorcade" to Dublin, which saw thousands of farmers take to the roads in protest over farm incomes.
Yesterday, the opening day of the three-day event, the estimated 5,000 people who turned up were "not just kicking tyres", according to Mr Michael Moroney, chief executive of the Farm Tractor and Machinery Trade Association (FTMTA) which organised the event.
"There are a lot of serious players out there today and I see there is a lot of attention being paid to the self-propelled silage harvesters which cost over €200,000 each," Mr Moroney said.
He said there were about 130 of these machines traded most years and there was an expectation of quite high sales in that area this year.
"On the tractor side, despite a 16 per cent decline in the number of farms over the past four years, tractor sales have remained relatively stable and have even increased marginally, indicating that farmers are willing to mechanise with the objective of improving efficiencies," he said.
An estimated 15,000 visitors are expected at the event, which continues today and tomorrow.