Project Title
Exploring risk pathways and safety measures during the high-risk bovine periparturient period: A survivor-informed study to support knowledge transfer in farm safety.
Project Overview
This research project explores risk pathways and safety decision-making during the high-risk bovine periparturient (calving) period in Ireland. Livestock remain the leading cause of serious farm injury with calving-time presenting a unique intersection of animal behaviour, facilities, time pressure, experience, and farming culture.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with farmers who have experienced serious incidents or near-misses, alongside advisor and health & safety professional input, the study uses thematic analysis and the systems-based ‘Fault Tree Analysis’ accident model to map how injuries occur and identify causation.
The project looks beyond the concept of “human error” to examine how judgement, familiarity, facility design, workload, and social norms influence risk and not treating survivor stories as accounts of what went wrong, but as insight into decision-making under real farm conditions.
A central feature of the research is co-design. The data collected from farmers, advisors, and occupational health & safety stakeholders has been analysed and informs the design of practical, evidence-based knowledge transfer, proposed resources tailored to the realities of Irish farming. The proposed resources include reflective prompts, awareness tools, and decision-support materials designed to support good practice during calving.
The aim is to bridge research, lived experience, advisory practice and regulatory bodies and encourage safer farm systems while respecting the knowledge, judgement, and constraints that farmers operates within.
Supervisors
Teagasc: Mr. Francis Bligh, Dr John McNamara
UCD: Dr. Sinéad Flannery
Location
Teagasc Advisory Office, Roscommon