Farming families have been reminded that children should be kept away from the dangers of the workplace as schools across England and Wales break up for the half-term holidays.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says for some farmers, the family home and the working farm are often side by side, though they should be regarded as separate.
Agriculture has one of the highest fatal injury rates of any industry in Great Britain, but is the only high-risk industry that also sees children often present.
See also: Farm Safety Week: Latest HSE fatality figures are ‘sobering’
Children and young people up to the age of 18 are regularly killed and injured on farms. Eight children were killed on farms in the five years up to March 2022.
The workplace regulator is reminding all adults working on farms that children and young people must be kept safe over the October holidays.
HSE advice
HSE inspector Wayne Owen says the best way to ensure the safety of children is simply to keep them away from the working farm.
“But if children are visiting the farm workplace, they must be kept away from higher risk areas such as operating machinery, slurry pits and bale stacks, and most importantly they should be with an adult who understands the risks on the farm and is not engaged in any work activity,” he said.
“Their sole focus should be on supervising the child.”
Key advice from the HSE includes:
- If older children are starting to help out on the farm, anything but the very simplest of tasks is likely to expose them to risk of injury or death
- Children under 13 should not under any circumstances operate or ride on agricultural machinery – it is illegal
- Children under 16 should not operate adult-sized ATVs in the farm workplace
- When children over 13 are allowed to operate some machinery, this should only be allowed after careful risk assessment, under close supervision, and after the child has received appropriate and structured training.
