HEALTH MATTERS: The Health and Safety Authority plans to inspect 1,300 farms this year -with an emphasis put on child safety and safety statement compliance - andnew guidelines are to be published, with codes of practice available in achild-friendly formatChild safety on farms will be highlighted in a major campaignstarting in March

Twenty-four people, seven of them children, died in farm accidents last year in the Republic. While construction, agriculture, mining and quarrying, and chemicals manufacture and storage accounted for more than 75 per cent of workplace fatalities, agriculture saw more fatalities than any other sector.

Speaking at the introduction of the Health and Safety Authority's (HSA's) programme of work for 2002 last week, Mr Tom Kitt TD, Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said: "Twenty-four lives were lost in farming last year. That's almost one a fortnight - a terrible statistic by itself, but what is even sadder is that seven of these were children. I sincerely hope that the message goes out today, loud and clear, that this trend cannot be allowed to continue."

Mr Michael Henry, chief inspector with the HSA, said safety statement compliance and child safety would be prioritised in the forthcoming campaign of farm inspections. The authority plans to inspect as many as 1,300 farms this year - with 300 farms to be inspected during farm safety week, beginning on April 8th.

New guidelines on safety statements for farms will be published on January 29th by the HSA and launched by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh.

Child safety on farms will be highlighted in a major campaign starting in March. It will feature an interactive CD-ROM, a video, a wall-chart and flyers for schools. A code of practice for child safety on farms was published last August, which, in the event of legal action, can be brought against the farmer under health and safety legislation.

The code provides practical advice and guidance on preventing accidents involving children on farms.

It details 13 key areas where action must be taken, such as the need to have a supervised play area for children. It points out that farmers are responsible for all children on the farm, including visitors. It stresses the need to prepare a safety statement and to carry out a risk assessment.

No minor is permitted to commence work or to have contact with farm activities before the risk assessment has been carried out.

An attractive, colourful, child-friendly version of the code in leaflet form is available from the HSA for children. It warns children of the dangers of being on a farm.

Children and tractors do not mix and children must be kept well away from the vehicles. Under 14 year olds must not drive a tractor and young people over the age of 14 must only do so when they have been properly trained. They must be supervised, and never use the tractor on dangerous ground. Children are prohibited from taking a lift in a tractor unless there is a seat specially designed for them, equipped with a safety belt.

The leaflet warns of the dangers of farm machinery, with children forbidden from going near such equipment. The risks of streams, rivers, barrels, wells and tanks are outlined, as are the dangers of slurry pits, which children should never go near.

Children should be prevented from climbing on bales, pallets or tyres, which can fall or crush people. It warns of the dangers of being attacked or crushed by animals or contracting diseases by touching them. Children can ... also be at risk from chemicals on farms and should be taught to avoid them if they have not been properly stored out of their reach.

A new video, Back on the Farm - produced by Britain's Health and Safety Executive in partnership with the HSA and the Health and Safety Executive of Northern Ireland, and supported by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work - will soon be made available in the Republic.

It presents ingenious solutions to risks posed to farmers' backs, some of which involve equipment ranging from purpose-built tractor wheel handlers to simple hitching sticks or ropes for lifting peat bales. At its simplest, the video suggests easier ways of lifting things, unaided or with a partner, and of managing farm work so the need to lift is reduced or eliminated.