FARM SAFETY

Farms are exciting places for children to live, grow, explore and visit. However they can also provide unique environments and injury hazards. Farms typically combine the family home and an industrial workplace, which means children are exposed to a wide range of hazards that aren’t present in urban home environments.

Common injury hazards for children on farms include machinery, vehicles (e.g. tractors, motorbikes and quad bikes), animals, water hazards (e.g. dams, rivers, creeks and animal drinking troughs) and poisons (e.g. pesticides).

Children in inner and outer regional areas of Victoria experience higher rates of death, hospital admission and emergency department presentation due to unintentional injuries compared to children in major cities in Victoria.

Safe Play Areas

A fenced area away from water, machinery and other hazards is a great way to provide children with a safe place to play on a farm. A safe play area should:

•  Be close to the home and clearly visible
•  Be securely fenced
•  Have adequate shade as well as a range of fun and interesting things for children to do

For more information on preventing farm injuries, please access the resources below.

resources