The SafeHabitus Communities of Practice: Fostering safety culture for everyone working in the agricultural sector
Seville, Spain – October 2024 – Coinciding with the European Week of Safety and Health at Work, representatives from the 11 SafeHabitus Communities of Practice (CoPs) gathered in Spain this week for the SafeHabitus Autumn School. The three-day meeting gathered CoP representative, including experts on farm and occupational safety, researchers, and advocates for migration and labour rights to share best practices and exchange valuable knowledge to improve farm safety and health across Europe.
The Autumn School delved into two of the focus themes of the SafeHabitus project, migrant and seasonal workers and tractor and machinery safety. One of the central discussions focused on how corporate social responsibility can help create better working and living conditions for migrant workers in Europe’s agricultural sector Experts on the migrant and labour rights issues presented research and policy insights on the challenges these workers face. To give participants a real-world perspective, the CoPs visited a local farm that employs migrant workers and witness the work of the NGO ASNUCI (New Citizenship Association for Interculturality) providing support to the migrant workers in the province of Huelva in Spain.
The second day of the Autumn School shifted the focus to farm safety culture, specifically to machinery and tractor safety. Accidents involving machinery are one of the leading causes of injuries and fatalities on farms across Europe, making the safety culture a key element to mitigating this danger to all working and living on farms. After looking at the research on tractor safety on the examples of Spain and Ireland, the CoPs took to a practical session on tractor safety, showcasing tractor safety practices and exchanging knowledge on fostering a culture of safety on farms.
SafeHabitus Workshops was held on the last day of the Autumn School. Here the future of farming was shaped by Assessing implications for the attractiveness of farming and CoPs Presentation of draft actor maps was made.
Media contact: – National CoP representative Anastasija Novikova (Lithuania) anastasija.novikova@vdu.lt
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About SafeHabitus:
SafeHabitus project is a four-year project coordinated by TEAGASC Ireland, funded by the European Union as part of the Horizon Europe Programme, grant agreement number 101084270. This multi-actor project aims to strengthen Farm Health and Safety Knowledge Innovation Systems (FHS KIS) and support the EU transition to social sustainability in farming.
