Child Safety on Farms Week (4 to 8 June)
Child Safety on Farms Week is part of the ongoing Child Safety on Farms campaign organised by HSENI and supported by the members of the Farm Safety Partnership. The campaign aims to eradicate fatal and serious accidents through an extensive education and outreach programme which includes a programme of planned school visits throughout Northern Ireland. This involves HSENI visiting rural primary schools to deliver interactive workshops about farm safety. Our KS1 and KS2 children received these talks and also watched a video to reinforce the safety on farms message.
To help promote safety for children on farms a free app called ‘Farm Secure’ is available for Android and IOS devices. Developed by students at the University of Ulster’s School of Nursing and sponsored by the Farm Safety Partnership (FSP), the app is aimed at key stage 1 pupils in P1 to P3 and features videos and an interactive quiz.
Urging farming families to take extra care this year, HSENI Chief Executive Keith Morrison said: “Children love farms. They love animals, they love machinery, they love climbing on things, and they love helping out parents and grandparents. But as we know all too well, farms are very dangerous places and the unthinkable can happen in just a few seconds. Precautions must be taken to keep children safe at all times.
It is vitally important to educate children about safety on the farm so that they are aware of potential dangers and learn how to avoid them. We need to make safety a priority today. Please talk about safety as a family and put in place simple measures now so that your family have a happy and safe summer on the farm.
Remember, if your children are old enough, it’s good to talk to them about farm safety so that they learn how to keep themselves safe.”
Farm safety checklist for parents
- have a safe and secure play area for young children
- prevent children from playing in or around farmyards and livestock
- prevent all children under the age of 13 from riding on tractors and farm machinery
- restrict the use of the quad and provide suitable safety equipment
- secure all heavy wheels, gates, heavy equipment and stacked materials to prevent them from toppling over
- ensure your slurry lagoon is securely fenced to prevent children from gaining access and make sure tank covers are always in place
- always keep children well away when mixing slurry
- keep track of where family members are playing or working and when they are expected back
- make sure everyone washes their hands before eating and drinking
- keep chemicals locked in a secure store when not in use
- make sure that guards are in place to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery
- make sure all family members know what to do in an emergency
- prepare a list of emergency contact telephone numbers
Here are some of the videos produced by the HSENI about farm safety
Dangerous Playgrounds for 4 - 8 year olds
HSENI Play Safe video for KS1
Dangerous Playgrounds - Animals
Dangerous Playgrounds - Slurry
Dangerous Playgrounds - Bugs and Germs
Farm Safe for 8 - 11year olds
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