Many children are injured on UK farms every year and, tragically, their injuries sometimes prove to be fatal. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), four children have died on farms across England, Scotland and Wales over the past five years. Most recently, a three year-old child was killed when he was run over by a reversing telehandler, driven by his father.
Indeed, being struck by moving vehicles or objects has been one of the most common causes of injury and death among children on farms in recent times. Other major causes have included falling from vehicles, contact with machinery and falls from height.
The good news is that farmers can help prevent similar accidents in the future by taking a few simple and inexpensive steps. Click here to watch video guidance from the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland, aimed at eight to 11 year olds, on how children can avoid common hazards on farm.
Important steps farmers can take are:
- Prevent any child under the age of 13 from driving or riding on a tractor. In fact, it is illegal for children under 13 years of age to drive or ride on any self-propelled machine used in agriculture. Children over the age of 13 are permitted to drive a tractor, but certain conditions must be met before they can do so, which have been set out here by the HSE.
- Remember that farms are not playgrounds. Take steps to keep children out of dangerous areas, such as chemical stores, slurry pits and sheep dips. This might involve erecting fencing or installing sheet gates with padlocks. As shown in the tragic example above, moving vehicles pose a major risk to children. Take steps to keep children away from yards or any other area where vehicles may be driven too.
- No one wants to stop children learning about farming but any learning experience must be supervised by an adult not engaged in any work activity.