It's against the law to allow a child under 13 to ride on or drive agricultural self-propelled machines (such as tractors) and certain other farm machinery. The law also requires that employers make sure their risk assessment for young people under the age of 18 takes full account of their inexperience, immaturity and lack of awareness of relevant risks.  Read more...

Dangers to children

Every year children are killed during agricultural work activities – 43 children under the age of 18 have been killed in the last 10 years.
 

 

 

Farm safety

People often believe that farm children understand farm risks, but most children who die in farm incidents are family members. A few straightforward steps, and proper supervision of children, will reduce these risks.

Other members of the public may also be at risk, eg when using public rights of way through fields containing cattle and calves.

The risks in the workplace

Farms are not playgrounds. Remember that children are naturally curious, and will often get into apparently inaccessible places. Make sure you exclude them from potentially dangerous areas, such as:

• chemical stores
• slurry pits and lagoons (which may falsely appear safe to walk on)
• reservoirs or sheep dips (which are often isolated)
• grain intake pits and grain bins
• machinery or building maintenance work.

To deter access to these areas:

• use fencing, such as pig netting topped with two strands of barbed wire, to an overall height of at least 1.3 m.
• sheet gates or make them impossible to climb;
• padlock gates;
• use grids (with a maximum aperture space of 62 mm)
• use solid covers that will not move or give way if children stray onto them.

Also:

• keep children away from yards or places with vehicle movements and make sure they are returned to a responsible adult if they stray into transport areas
• make sure everyone working on the farm is aware that children may be present
• explain that you are authorised to stop work if any children are in the work area and to send them somewhere safe
• keep tools and work equipment secured.

The risks on open farms

There are a number of diseases that people can catch from animals, eg through contact with faeces. The elderly and children are often particularly at risk from such diseases, which include infections from cryptosporidium, campylobacter, E coli O157 and salmonella. These infections can kill. If you invite the public onto your farm:

• decide if you want to allow visitors to have direct contact with the animals
• provide enough washing facilities for the expected numbers of visitors needing to use them – they should include warm running water, soap and clean towels
• alcohol wipes and gels can be useful but are not a substitute for hand washing
• provide training and supervision for workers on the need for visitors to wash and dry their hands thoroughly
• if you sell food for human consumption, do so only after visitors have passed animal contact areas and washing facilities
• do not allow eating in parts of the farm where people can touch the animals.

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