Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) has launched a new farm safety initiative to raise awareness of the dangers of working in the vicinity of underground electricity cables and overhead power lines.

'Plan your work safely' is part of NIE’s ongoing safety campaign to reduce incidences of farm related damage to the electricity network across Northern Ireland.

In the last two years there have been over 125 incidents involving the electricity network, and Roy Coulter, NIE’s Director of Safety and Risk, says any of these could have resulted in a fatality.

“We have been working with the farming community for many years now to help keep farmers safe during their day to day work and to reduce the level of damage to the electricity network," Mr Coulter said. "In the past farmers and agricultural contractors have been injured as their machinery comes into contact with the overhead lines. These alarming incidents can be prevented if farmers take the surrounding electricity network into consideration when planning their work.”

Today's launch at Greenmount Campus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise is part of NIE’s ongoing safety campaign to reduce incidences of farm related damage to the electricity network across Northern Ireland.

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