Young safety ambassadors needed to help highlight farming risks
Date published:
With farming remaining one of the most dangerous sectors here, HSENI and the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP) are turning to young safety ambassadors to help raise awareness of the risks.
Launching their annual farm safety poster competition, they are asking all primary school pupils to put their creativity to work and design posters highlighting the dangers on farms and the simple steps to prevent serious accidents.
Over the last 10 years more than 50 people have been killed in farming accidents and since 2000, tragically 12 children have died in work-related farming incidents.
Gemma Mooney, HSENI Principal Agri-Food Inspector said the competition was a fun way to deliver a sober message.
“Farms are wonderful places to work on, live in, visit and learn from, but they also have many hazards. From quad bikes to tractors, livestock to slurry tanks there is always the risk of an accident.
“This poster competition is a great way to get children thinking about how to keep themselves and their farm families safe. Sadly, behind the fun of this initiative there are sobering statistics that show farming remains one of our most dangerous industries.
“There have been 28 deaths in the last five years in Northern Ireland and another four this year alone. Tragically, children have been involved in serious and even fatal accidents on our farms,” she added.
Stephanie Berkeley, Manager of The Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies), the charity sponsoring the competition, urged all primary and special schools to get involved in the competition.
“As members of the Farm Safety Partnership, we are delighted to sponsor this year's competition. The creativity and imagination of the entries every year is truly inspiring but beneath the colourful drawings lies something far more powerful – an introduction to key safety messages for children in a way that feels natural, not instructional. It invites children to think, to question and ultimately to carry those messages back into their own homes” she said
The competition, which is open until 31 July 2026, invites children to draw and colour a picture illustrating a vital farm safety message. Entries should primarily focus on the four key dangers on farms: Slurry, Animals, Falls, and Equipment (SAFE).
However, HSENI and the Farm Safety Partnership are keen to see new and innovative ideas and welcome illustrations of any other dangers children may identify on farms.
The 12 winning entries will be announced in September with a £50 voucher for all the winners. The posters will then be used by the HSENI in their publicity material to get the important message across to farm families.
Competition terms and conditions, along with further information on Key Stage 1 & 2 resources including downloadable child farm safety colouring sheets, can be found at Farm Safety Poster Competition Terms and Conditions 2026/27 | Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, controlling risk together
Notes to editors :
- For more information on the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP), please contact HSENI on 0800 0320 121 or visit www.hseni.gov.uk/farmsafetypartnership
- The Farm Safety Partnership comprises the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), NFU Mutual (NFUM), the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU), The Farm Safety Foundation, Rural Support, and the Northern Ireland Agricultural Producers Association (NIAPA). It is tasked with assisting Northern Ireland’s farming community to work safely and tackle the problem of work-related fatalities and injuries on farms.
- The Farm Safety Partnership’s ongoing ‘Stop and Think SAFE’ farm safety campaign focuses on the four main causes of death and injury on our farms – slurry, animals, falls, and equipment (SAFE).
- The Farm Safety Foundation, or Yellow Wellies as it is known, is an independent registered charity working throughout the UK to address the attitudes and behaviours to farm safety and poor mental health in the next generation of farmers (under 40yrs) with the aim of reducing the number of farmers and farm workers suffering life-changing and life-ending injuries in the workplace and making our farms safer places to work, to live and to visit.
- For media enquiries, please contact HSENI Press Office on 028 9024 3249 or email media@hseni.gov.uk. For out-of-office hours, please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110.
- HSENI is the lead body responsible for the promotion and enforcement of health and safety at work standards in Northern Ireland.
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