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At the presentation of the Innovation Award by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Richard Bruton T.D. at the Ploughing Championships, were l-r: Anna May McHugh, National Ploughing Association; Alan and Colette Martin, Slurrysafe; Minister Richard Bruton; Tom Hayes, Enterprise Ireland and James Maloney, Irish Farmers Journal.

Ballyduff Upper dairy farmers, Alan and Colette Martin, won an Innovation Award at this year’s National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Stradbally, Co Laois, for their farm safety product 'Slurrysafe'.

Slurrysafe is a steel safety platform that prevents people falling in and drowning when agitating and spreading slurry from open slurry pits.

They were presented with their award by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr Richard Bruton, T.D. The Innovation Awards, which were sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, The National Ploughing Association and The Irish Farmers Journal, attracted over 70 entries this year.

Health & Safety statistics show that 85 per cent of slurry related deaths have been from drowning, with almost 20 per cent of childhood deaths on farms related to drowning. The Martin’s have two young children, hence their search for a safer way to handle slurry.

Operating an 80-cow dairy farm, Alan says installation of their Slurrysafe safety platform makes the farm a safer place to be. Like many dairy farmers, they use an open slurry pit, and have designed the platform for fitting to the concrete wall of the pit.  The railed-in platform has an agitation point and a separate entry point for the hose pipe used to extract the slurry. 

With the railing continued on either side to any existing gateposts, it creates a caged-in effect removing the risk of the farmer or slurry contractor falling in while adjusting the agitator. And it ends the danger of anybody or any animal falling into the pit, due to the gate being left open while spreading slurry.

For more information on Slurrysafe, visit www.slurrysafe.ie

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