‘Inherent dangers in children driving large tractors during harvest’ – TD
In the last 10 years, 17 farm fatalities have involved people under the age of 17. Photo: Stock image/Getty
Farmers are now drafting in children after Junior or Leaving Certificate years for harvesting due to labour shortages, and that comes with “inherent dangers”, an Oireachtas hearing on the role of the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) heard last week.
Speaking at the hearing, Independent TD for Waterford, Matt Shanahan, called for constant vigilance in the sector, in particular at high-stress times when trained manpower is not available, and raised concerns over children driving tractors.
“I am close to the farm sector and do not want to attack it, but during harvesting, I see 16-year-olds driving 150hp tractors with 10 tonnes of silage behind them.
“They are racing to try to get over and back. I know the HSA is being vigilant, but farmers are under pressure and do not have the manpower,” he said.
“They end up bringing in their sons and nephews around harvest time, in particular when they are slow getting contractors.”
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Mr Shanahan said, years ago, every farm had a farm labourer who had worked there for 20 or 30 years and was quite skilled at what they did.
“The problem is that farmers are now drafting in children after Junior or Leaving Certificate years for harvesting. Farmers have no choice. There are obviously inherent dangers in that,” he said.
“We are not trying to blame farmers — it is a very difficult job and has become even more difficult. Machinery has become bigger and the requirements to get work done have become more intense.”
He called on the HSA to speak to farmers about these issues, in particular lights and brakes on tractors and trailers. These are major issues.
“When those vehicles go out of control, the momentum can do untold damage,” he said.
HSA Chief Executive Conor O’Brien outlined a host of stark farm safety statistics to members of the Committee, including that over the last 10 years, there have been 191 fatalities on farms.
“Over half of those were people more than 65 years old. People who are 65 and older are three times more likely to have a work-related accident,” he said.
“Regarding the causes of those accidents, close to half of them involved vehicles, 20pc involved livestock and interacting with animals, particularly at calving time, and 13pc involved falling from a height, such as working on the roof of a barn and falling through the roof.
“Over the last 10 years, 10 people have been killed in quad bike accidents.
“Most unfortunately, in that 10-year period, 17 fatalities have involved people under the age of 17, which is an absolute tragedy,” he said.
