A new report has outlined the dangers faced by those working on farms.

It says for every 100,000 workers in agriculture, forestry and fishing, there were 21 workplace deaths last year - exactly 10 times as many as in the general population.

The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) say 2017 seems to be continuing the trend, as 14 lives were lost during the first seven months of the year.

That is up from seven fatalities in early July 2016.

Fatalities ranged in age from one-year-old to 87-years-old, with crush fatalities attributed to eight of the deaths.

The second most dangerous occupation is construction, with under seven deaths for every 100,000 workers.

"Most of the fatal accidents in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector happened to workers in the older age groups," the HSA noted, with 10 deaths among people aged 65 or older.

There were 41 injuries resulting in at least one day's work being lost for every 1,000 workers in agriculture, forestry and fishering in 2015 - more than twice the nationwide rate.

By contrast, farmers suffered less from work-related illnesses, with only 11 out of 1,000 workers affected in 2015 in this industry against a national average of 21 out of 1,000 workers.

Only administrative workers had a lower incidence of work-related illnesses.

The HSA conducted 2,151 farm inspections and 67 investigations last year.

They found that 87% of farms had a safe play area for children, 86% addressed the involvement of elderly farmers in farming activity and 69% had safe facilities for calving.

While the HSA also found that 65% had safe slurry handling facilities.

Overall, 17 prosecutions were taken by the HSA leading to fines of €614,000.

Read the reports in full here