Who would fill your boots?

"Who would fill your boots?" is a question farmers should ask themselves, Deputy Peter Burke is advising, as part of Farm Safety Week.

"It's a good time to reinforce to all farmers and those working around farms to always exercise caution and safety in their workplace," says Deputy Burke.

"Farmers often do not think of their own health and safety when working with dangerous machinery and lifestock and we must do everything we can to change this.

"As an only child growing up on a farm, i know myself that i often may have turned a blind eye to best practice and upholding the proper safety standards when farming.

"But i now know the risks - farm safety is one of the most critical issues facing farming today."

Deputy Burke said that in the period 2004 to 2013, there were 176 fatal farm accidents.

"This is a tragic statistic. While the figure of 8 deaths so far this year is lower than the average, every avoidable death is one far too many."

He said the figures show that the two areas of activity giving rise to most accidents are working with livestock, and working with tractors and machinery.

"Machinery and tractor maintenance should be seen as a routine part of farm work," he said.