Campaign to help safeguard older farmers
Last month, the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) launched an awareness campaign aimed at older farmers called ‘Farming gets riskier with age’.
The media campaign is aimed at helping to keep older farmers safer in the workplace by asking them to consider their physical limitations before undertaking jobs on the farm.
Between January 2002 and December 2021, there have been 127 farm deaths in Northern Ireland. Tragically 67 of these incidents concerned farmers aged 65 or older. The majority of incidents involved animals, typically bulls or newly calved cows.
HSENI principal inspector Camilla Mackey said, “No matter what nature of work we undertake, as we get older, things can become more difficult.
“For older farmers especially, given the challenging conditions and environment they work in night and day, we would ask them to assess the jobs they are doing, know their limitations, and consider asking for help.”
Read more about the campaign on the HSM website.
Inclusivity initiative launched by L’Oréal OSH chief and IIRSM
L’Oréal and the International Institute of Risk and Safety Management (IIRSM) have joined forces for a brand new scheme to encourage greater representation among those responsible for protecting the safety and health of people at work.
Successful applicants to The Hummingbird Bursary will be rewarded with places, funded by L’Oréal, on the IIRSM Managing Health & Safety Risks – The Essentials training course.
Bursary recipients will be carefully selected by a judging panel with representatives from leading organisations in occupational safety and health and risk management. These include:
- Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA)
- OneWISH, a global coalition for women and inclusion in safety and health
- NEBOSH (the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health)
- L’Oréal itself and,
- IIRSM
For more on the scheme, visit the SHP website.
Fine for roofing contractor after fatal fall
The Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI) has successfully led a prosecution against an Enniskillen based roofing contractor.
The prosecution follows the death of a self-employed roofing contractor on site, who fell from height during the re-roofing of an outbuilding on a County Fermanagh farm.
At Enniskillen Magistrate Court, Mr James Callaghan pleaded guilty to a single health and safety offence and was fined £1,000.
The HSENI investigation found that the self-employed contractor died from his injuries after falling over three metres onto a concrete floor during the construction work that took place on 15 May 2020. At the time of the incident, both contractors were walking across the roof structure when a wooden purlin broke causing both men to fall.
Learn more on the HSM website.
Retained EU Law Bill debated in Commons – Repeal of laws is “alarming”, warns RoSPA
RoSPA says repealing or replacing over 4,000 pieces of law as part of the Retained EU Law Bill is “alarming” and is calling for a delay to its proposed implementation as Bill is debated in Commons.
Under the Bill, the Government is committed to repealing or replacing over 4,000 pieces of law taken from the UK’s previous membership of the EU bloc by December 2023, including compulsory, workplace safety legislation and the working time directive.
A growing list of organisations, including RoSPA, have expressed concern over rushing through the Bill, saying there is not enough time to thoroughly assess, adapt or improve each law.
Errol Taylor, Chief Executive at RoSPA, says that if managed correctly, this Bill could offer an opportunity to arrive at a successful destination, but that cannot happen if the Government sticks by its current 2023 deadline, which represents a cliff edge over which will fall essential life-saving legislation and that “the headlong rush to abolish regulations is alarming”.
Visit the SHP website to learn more.
To keep up to date with the latest health & safety news and advice, follow us on social media: