AN INVESTIGATION has been launched following the death of a man in a farming accident in County Cork.
Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) are investigating the circumstances which led the the death of a man in his 60s on a farm in the Carrigaline area last night, Thursday 25 June.
It is understood that the accident, which involved a tractor, occurred at approximately 9.30pm last night, and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
His body has been removed to Cork University Hospital where a post-mortem examination is expected to take place later today.
Farming is consistently ranked as the most dangerous job in Ireland, with an average of 21 deaths a year in workplace incidents, according to Agriland.ie.
There had been elevated fears for farming accidents this year, particularly for children, as the coronavirus pandemic closed schools and colleges across the country.
In April, a five-year-old boy was tragically killed when he fell from a trailer on his farm in Tulsk, Co Roscommon, and later in April a 14-year-old died when the tractor he was travelling in slipped off a hillside track in County Clare.
Last month, an 11-year-old girl was killed in an accident involving a tractor on her family-run farm in County Donegal, leading the HSA to reiterate a warning to children and farming families to remain vigilant while working.
HSA inspector Pat Griffin told RTÉ that "farms are by far the most dangerous places of work in Ireland that we are concerned about this year, in that we may get a spike in child deaths in 2020."
The man is reported as being the 14th person to die in a farming accident so far this year, according to RTÉ News.
