AQW 17748/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 21/04/2021
Answered On Date: 30/04/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for the Economy what steps his Department is taking to address respiratory issues arising from occupational exposures in the agricultural industry.

Answer:

The issue of Farmers Occupational Health is being addressed via the ongoing work of the Farm Safety Partnership.

The Farm Safety Partnership is made up of 7 members including The Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), the Northern Irish Agricultural Producers Association (NIAPA), The Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster (YFCU), The National Farmers Union (NFU) Mutual and the Farm Safety Foundation along with The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI).

Within the Partnerships latest action plan (Action Plan 4) the Partnership has highlighted the need to address farmers Occupational Health and has an objective to highlight key areas of occupational health (including mental health) and provide information on risks and how to manage them.

In the first phase the partnership agreed to prioritise Mental Health which should complete later this year with future targeting of other key issues including respiratory health and occupational cancers on completion of this phase.