Family of late Offaly farmer highlight dangers of falls
A video by the family of late Offaly farmer, Dermot Hogan, is being used today to highlight the dangers of falls on farms.
It is part of the fourth annual Farm Safety Week, with different themes being highlighted each day. Today the campaign focusses on falls, which caused one-fifth of fatal accidents on Irish farms in 2015.
The other themes are machinery, livestock, transport, and children on farms and themed help and advice will be placed online each day.
In a recent series of video clips entitled ‘What’s left behind’, developed by Embrace FARM (a support network in Ireland for those affected by fatal and serious accidents), Dermot’s tragic farm accident is described. Dermot was killed when he fell a relatively short distance through the roof of a shed he was painting and suffered serious head injuries.
The 45-year-old father-of-three was painting the shed at his farm when he fell through a perspex roof light and suffered fatal head injuries. His wife raised the alarm and contacted emergency services who rushed to the scene. Paramedics worked to save him but sadly he was later pronounced dead.
According to his brother Eugene, a respected journalist who was involved in developing the video clip to warn others said: “What happened to Dermot didn’t just take his life…it took away a bit of the rest of us.”
This case reinforces that fact that farm workers of any age run the risk of injury or death from falls.
The video, which was first published in September 2014, can be viewed here:
http://youtu.be/kiWVN9EZ-BQ
Farm Safety Week, an initiative launched in 2013, aims to cut the toll of accidents which continue to give agriculture the poorest record of any occupation in Ireland and the UK.
This year’s Farm Safety Week, which runs from July 4 to 8, is being supported by a greater number of organisations than ever including the Farm Safety Foundation, Farm Safety Partnerships, the Health & Safety Authority, Ireland, Health & Safety Executive, UK, and Health & Safety Executive for Northern Ireland. It aims to educate and inspire a drive to improve agriculture’s poor safety record.