HSE advice to keep children safe on farms this summer

With the school summer holidays in full swing and many farming families juggling childcare and busy workloads, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a reminder to farmers to keep children safely away from farm activities.

The advice comes in the wake of the latest farming fatalities report for 2021-22, which revealed that eight children were killed in farming incidents between April 2017 and March 2022.

See also: Tributes paid to boy, 3, killed in tractor collision in Bury

Another two children lost their lives in the months since the report was compiled, including a four-year-old.

These deaths occurred when children were carried as passengers on agricultural machinery, were not under supervision, or, in some cases, were trespassing on farmland.

The HSE’s acting principal inspector for agriculture, Wayne Owen, said: “During the summer holidays, children may be at home more on the farm. Farmers must ensure that any children living or visiting the farm are safe; they must be kept out of the workplace.

“Farms are full of hazards – vehicles and other machines, large animals, deep lagoons, a variety of chemicals and hazardous dusts – they are not a place for children, unless risk is very carefully managed. Farm work should stop immediately if an unsupervised child appears in any work area.”

Legally, children under the age of 13 are not permitted to drive or operate farm machinery.

The HSE recommends that children under 16 should not be allowed on farms without full supervision of an adult who is not carrying out work tasks.