HOMELAND and Nutrias Animal Feeds are partnering with two Leaving Cert students from Carrick-on-Shannon Community School in a novel farm safety initiative.
Jane Carty from Knockroe, Boyle, Co. Roscommon, and Grace McKeon from Drumshanbo, Co. Leitrim, were finalists of the Certified Irish Angus Beef Schools Competition, run in collaboration with ABP Ireland and Kepak Group, where they undertook a project to highlight health and safety on the farm.
“We chose this theme as we were aware of a few farm accidents that had happened in our local area. We had also done some work on farm safety in our agricultural science class during transition year. As part of this we watched a farm safety video produced by our teacher with students from the CBS Roscommon. This video really resonated with us.”
The video can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxHjKZ20kPM.
One story which really touched Grace and Jane was that of the death of 16-year-old Donal Hayden who sadly lost his life as a result of a freak accident.
The importance of having local emergency contact numbers on display, in a place easily accessed, could potentially save lives.
“Quite often when an accident happens on a farm, farmers turn to their neighbours for help. They might need a tractor or a trailer or they could just need an extra pair of hands. We feel it is very important to have these numbers to hand.”
Grace and Jane were inspired to create two items as part of their project and, nurtured by their teacher Ms. Louise Gallagher, created an Emergency Contact Poster and Farm Safety Map Worksheet.
The Farm Safety Map activity is designed to be completed by small children and their parents/guardians and aims to spark conversation to highlight dangerous areas on the farm.
It involves drawing a map of their farm together with a simple traffic light system to identify hazards on the farm - Red: Dangerous, Amber: Must be accompanied by an adult, Green: Safe for kids.
Aurivo Co-Operative Society were delighted to adapt Grace and Jane’s fantastic initiative as part of their project to bring the concepts to life and to create a pathway of distributing to local farmers.
Both the Farm Safety Contacts Poster and Farm Safety Activity map will be available across Aurivo’s portfolio of 34 Homeland retail stores located across eight counties, including Mayo, and also available to download via Homeland.ie.
Speaking on the collaboration, Sheila Maloney, general manager of Aurivo Agribusiness, said: “We are delighted to get behind this fantastic initiative by Jane and Grace to raise awareness of farm safety.
“The Safety Contacts Poster and Farm Safety Map gives an opportunity to take a proactive approach and have better quality conversations about farm safety.”
Ian Finneran, procurement and wholesale manager, Aurivo Agribusiness, added: “Everyone has a responsibility in making safety a priority on their farm. This idea from Jane and Grace is an excellent safety initiative and one which we are thrilled to get behind and help disseminate through our Homeland stores to farming families across the region.”
To celebrate the collaboration and launch of the Safety Contact Poster and Farm Safety Map, Homeland and Nutrias Animal Feeds are giving away prizes for three lucky winners under the following categories:
To win a pair of Dunlop Kids Wellingtons, Nutrias Regatta Softshell Jacket and Homeland Beanie simply:
Download a copy of the Farm Safety Map or pick up a copy at your local Homeland store and get drawing your farm, highlighting the Dangerous, Must be Accompanied and Safe for Kids areas.
Email a copy of your entry to Competitions@aurivo.ie – closing date Monday, August 2.
Clearly state your name and age and also your parent/guardians contact details.
The winners will be announced on Friday, August 6.
For more information, visit https://www.homeland.ie/.
* Pictured above at their local store at Homeland Agri, Kiltoghert, are Louise Gallagher, teacher, Jane Carty and Grace McKeon, Carrick-on-Shannon Community School, and Ian Finneran, procurement manager at Aurivo Agribusiness.