Farm fatalities in Northern Ireland agriculture: What fifty years of data tell us

Agriculture is one of the most hazardous sectors in terms of fatal and non-fatal accidents. This paper utilises an administrative dataset that recorded farm fatalities in Northern Ireland over a 50 year timeframe (1968-2017) to undertake an age-period analysis of accident related mortality rates by sex, cause of death, season, and day of the week. Public policies aimed to improve farm safety should consider that fatalities due to animals have increased while the incidence of deaths due to vehicles and equipment has substantially decreased over the years although it is still the primary cause of death. With respect to age, elderly still actively involved in farming and children in the spring and at week-ends are most exposed to the risk of a fatal accident. Overall, men die on farms five times more than women.