Minister Coveney urges extra care during the current adverse weather conditions

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney, TD, today drew attention to the need for everyone working in the Farming and Fishing industries to take all safety precautions during the current adverse weather conditions.

The Minister indicated that ‘Met Éireann has issued a number of ‘Status Orange’ warnings in the last number of days and the status has now been upgraded to Red identifying the need to be prepared for adverse weather’.  The Minister added, “It is important that the agriculture and fishing industries take every precaution to avoid risk of injury or worse during this period”.  With storm force winds forecast, people need to exercise caution in exposed coastal areas and have full regard to local weather warnings before venturing to sea. Very cold conditions are also forecast to continue over the coming days and into next week.

Whilst we have not experienced the same number of winter storms as last year, it is important that we are prepared by taking adequate precautions.  Ensuring salt is available to reduce the risk of falls and trips on frosty ground and adequately securing items easily caught by high wind such as shed doors are just some of the ways of reducing the risk of accident.

He added that “2014 proved to be the worst year for farm accidents since 1992 with 30 deaths reported, while tragic incidents in our fishing industry in recent years resulted in the sad loss of many lives. It is important that these appalling figures focus our minds in respect of farm and fishery safety this year and particularly during adverse weather”.

The Minister also drew attention to the BE WINTER-READY campaign and encouraged everyone to check out the valuable information provided at the following website http://www.winterready.ie/Be-Winter-Ready.aspx.

This website provides useful information on being prepared for difficult winter weather.