Media Release

15 January 2009

Over the past five years ten children have been killed on farms - many during summer. They have ranged in age from eighteen month old infants and two year old toddlers to youngsters under ten and teenagers as old as eighteen.

“Farms can be dangerous places for children,” says the Department of Labour’s Maarten Quivooy. “Farms are not just places where families live, but places where people work - and often this work involves highly dangerous machinery or substances. This increases risks - especially for children who often play far from supervision. To children farms are more adventure playgrounds than workplaces, and its important for farm owners and farm workers to recognise and eliminate the potential risks for children created by machinery, substances and even stock.

“It’s important that farm owners and operators identify the things that pose risks to children. A good way is to get the kids involved in a sort of safety ‘eye spy’.”

Mr Quivooy, head of the Department’s Health and Safety Services, says some handy tips for child safety on farms include:

• Walking around the farm with children and identifying the hazards together.
• Providing adult supervision - for young children it needs to be close and active.
• Leading by example - always wear a helmet when on your ATV.
• Assessing whether you should have safety fences around play areas, animal enclosures, work areas and water.
• Keeping doors shut or locked so little ones can’t get anywhere they’re not supposed to.
• Removing keys from doors and vehicles, and never leaving vehicles unattended with the motor running.
• Making sure it is safe to reverse farm vehicles.
• Not allowing children to ride on tractors, ATVs or on the back of utes.
• Making sure children wear high visibility clothing when out and about on the farm.
• Getting children to wash their hands after touching animals.
• Using child-proof covers or fencing off tanks, wells and offal pits-filling in any that are unused.
• Making sure spare tractor wheels are tied to a wall or left lying flat so they can’t topple over and crush a child.
• Ensuring that children riding smaller model farm bikes are properly equipped with a helmet and closed in shoes. An adult should always supervise.
• Not allowing older children to ride farm bikes until they can place both feet firmly on the ground on either side when seated on the bike. They should also be trained how to ride safely over uneven ground.
• Making sure children know what to do in an emergency, including where to go and who to call. Teach children basic first aid.
• Getting older children to always say where they are going and when they will be back.

For more information about keeping safe this summer, see www.dol.govt.nz/takecare

ENDS

Editor’s Note
Please note that health and safety services, formerly referred to as Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) should now be referred to as the Department of Labour.