Farm health and safety talk at Ballyeaston
Ballyeaston Vintage Tractor Club will be hosting a ‘Farm Health and Safety Talk’ by William Sayers on Friday 6 th February at Second Ballyeaston Presbyterian Church Hall, 19 Trenchill Road, Ballyeaston at 7.30pm.
Tea and Refreshments will be served. Free Admission and everyone welcome.
William Sayers’ dream as a child was to take over the family farm, but it disappeared in the ‘blink of an eye’ when he lost his arm in a farming accident. He was 12 when his life changed forever.
Determined to finish slurry-spreading on the family’s farm in Donemana, County Tyrone, he was checking how the tank was filling when his unzipped coat was caught in fast-moving machinery. Within seconds of his coat becoming trapped, his right arm was gone and his clothing had been stripped off him.
Agriculture remains one of the most dangerous sectors in Northern Ireland, with almost half of all workplace deaths happening on a farm.
Thirty-five years later, William volunteers as an ambassador for the Farm Safety Foundation, telling his story to try to save others from potentially avoidable accidents.
The majority of the 26,000 farms in Northern Ireland are small, family-run businesses with one or two people working on them.
That can heighten the risk, according to the Farm Safety Foundation.
Earlier in the evening, at 7pm, Ballyeaston will be holding their Annual General Meeting.