Children in agriculture

Introduction
Protecting children on the farm
Examples of child accident prevention
Some general precautions
Case study - Preventing Accidents to Children and Young Persons (Ireland)

Introduction

Agriculture is unusual in that the place of work may also be the family home. This means that children are at risk from the workplace hazards in agriculture. In addition, visitors to the countryside may bring children onto farms, perhaps unaware than they are entering workplaces. Not all Member States may cover child protection in their occupational safety and health legislation, but it will be considered under other legislation.

The International Social Security Association (ISSA) state that two thirds of children killed in agriculture are less than five years old, and that vehicles are the most common cause of death. Other causes of fatal accidents identified by ISSA include:

Machinery;
Drowning;
Suffocation; and
Contact with animals.

ISSA identify reasons for the high rates of fatal accidents as:

Lack of appreciation of risk by farmers, parents, and children;
Inadequate training and supervision; and
Inadequate secure play areas.

These two examples of accidents involving children highlight the problem:

Child safety and supervision.
a 3 year old child was run over by a tractor being driven by his father.
Unsecured heavy objects and children.
a 7 year old child suffered a fractured skull when a fencing panel fall onto him.

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Protecting children on the farm

As with all workplace health and safety, start by assessing the risks to children. Many of the risks will also be risks to workers.

Identify what may harm children. This may include:
- Vehicles
- Farm machinery
- Slurry pits
- Storage systems (from haystacks to grain silos)
- Unsecured heavy objects (e.g. bales)o Dangerous chemicals
- Noise
- Consider who may be harmed and how (don't forget visitors to farms).
Evaluate the risk, considering existing prevention measures and what can be done further.
Review the assessment periodically – children grow up!

Injury to children on farms usually occurs due to a combination of factors related to:

The hazard (e.g. the pond is deep and muddy).
The child (e.g. a toddler can walk, loves water, will explore, can’t swim).
Time and space factors (e.g. a phone call distracts the supervising adult and the pond is nearby).

When deciding what action to take, follow the normal prevention hierarchy:

Eliminate the risk if possible.
Substitute the hazard for something less hazardous.
Control the remaining risk.

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Examples of child accident prevention

Prevention of droning:
- eliminate the risk by filling unused ditches or removing unused troughs;
- control the risk by securely fencing or covering wells, tanks, or troughs.
Prevention of accidents involving farm machinery:
- eliminate the risk by disposing of equipment no longer used;
- control the risk by securing the machinery storage areas, ensuring that a child cannot access work equipment; have functioning guards on work equipment; have sensors and visibility aids to assist work equipment operators in knowing that a child is present.
Prevention of accidents involving vehicles:
- control the risk by ensuring that ALL vehicles operators are suitably trained and the vehicles are maintained in a safety condition (e.g. brakes);
- ensure that proximity warning devices, reversing alarms, visibility aids (e.g. mirrors, cctv) all function; only carry passengers in permitted vehicles and ensure that children are restrained where necessary.

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Some general precautions

Have first aid skills and know what to do in the event of an accident or emergency.
Ensure supervision of children.
Have "out of bounds" rules for children and ensure that they follow them.
Educate children in safety on the farm.
Have a secure play area for children.

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Case study - Preventing Accidents to Children and Young Persons (Ireland)

Key Points

to raise awareness amongst farmers regarding hazards for children at the farm by providing a code of practice for work activities;
this includes the preparation of a safety statement and the carrying out of a risk assessment.

Introduction

The Safety Statement is essentially a document setting out how safety and health is to be managed on the farm. It includes a systematic appraisal of all the hazards on the farm, with a risk assessment. Where the risk of injury is high, the Safety Statement identifies control measures to eliminate or to reduce the risk.

Background

The farm safety record on Irish farms makes for startling and sad reading. The level of accidents in recent years indicates that many farmers have opted for 'risk taking' rather than 'accident prevention'. In 2001 alone, twenty-four people, including seven children died on Irish farms. These people were killed primarily as a result of accidents with tractors, farm machinery, animals, slurry pits and falls from heights.

Children and the elderly on farms are particularly at risk. Children are often attracted to play in and around areas on the farm where there are animals, tractors, or where machinery is operating. They will also seek out places to hide that may be near chemicals or where other dangerous items are stored, or climb up to places from where they can potentially fall. Particular dangers include slurry pits, and hay sheds where they are at risk of falling from, or trapped between, stacked hay bales or the bales falling on them.

It is natural for farmers to want to include their children in farm activities. Introducing children at a young age to farm activities can help build many varied skills. Often there is a failure to appreciate that children are more prone to farm hazards than mature adults. Young people may feel under pressure to complete tasks for which they are not qualified or do not understand, or may not be physically able to do, sometimes with fatal consequences.

The National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health has issued a Code of Practice entitled “Code of Practice on Preventing Accidents to Children and Young Persons in Agriculture”.

The Code of Practice provides practical guidance as to the observance of the provisions of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 1989; the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 1993; and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Children and Young Persons) Regulations 1998, relating to the protection of the safety and health of children and young persons on farms.

Since a farm is unique in terms of its dual role as a workplace and a home, it contrasts readily with virtually all other places of employment as regards the potential for work activities to impact on, and affect children. Accordingly, this Code of Practice solely addresses the matter of child safety in that particular context and circumstances.

In addition, this Code of Practice applies only to on-farm work activities and their potential impact on children. It does not deal with other activities, such as driving tractors and other machinery on the public roads, which are covered under Road Traffic legislation.

Aims

The ambitions of this project are to raise awareness amongst the farmers of the hazards for children that are present at the farm. It must become clear that accidents can be avoided and that they have a role to play in this.

By giving practical examples, they can be made aware that the hazards are a reality, but with better management of the risks, they can be eliminated or reduced.

Scope

One of the main provisions outlined in the code is the requirement of farmers to prepare a Safety Statement and carry out a comprehensive risk assessment. It says a risk assessment must be carried for all activities, but with specific reference to children, who may be involved on the work, directly or indirectly.

Advice and guidance is given on the following specific areas:

Safety Statement and risk assessment for work activities that involve children and young persons;
supervision, instruction and training;
general principles of health and safety management;
play areas for children not involved in work activities;
operating and riding on machinery;
contact with machinery and moving vehicles;
contact with animals;
drowning and asphyxiation;
hazardous substances;
falling from heights;
being hit by a falling object; and
fire.

The Safety Statement is essentially a document setting out how safety and health is to be managed on the farm. It will include a systematic appraisal of all the hazards on the farm, with an assessment of the risk of them causing injury. Where the risk of injury is high, it identifies control measures to eliminate or reduce the risk.

Other important aspects:

Children and young persons, partly because of their level of maturity, will need more supervision and instruction, than you would normally expect to give an adult. It is essential that children and young persons be adequately supervised by a responsible adult.
Children and young persons should not be permitted to carry out any work activity unless their capabilities have been assessed, in terms of safety and health, to do the job.
Special care needs to be taken to ensure that children do not have access to danger areas, that they may be attracted to through curiosity, arising from factors such as the noise of tractor engines or other machinery. Danger areas include:
- operating machines and machinery (e.g. tractors, towed/self-propelled harvesters such as trailers and towed machinery, power-driven machines, chemical applicators, etc.);
- entry to areas where drowning and asphyxiation may occur (e.g. slurry tanks/silos/pits, grain silos, etc.);
- falling from heights (e.g. the upper levels of buildings and high structures such as silos and stacks of bales).

Building on this initiative the HSA included the Safe Farming is Good Business case study in the 6th edition (2002) of ‘The Irish Times Business 2000’ a publication which provides business case studies and resources to teachers and students. Backed up with a CD-Rom and web site (www.business2000.ie) this publication is made available free of charge to schools throughout Ireland. The HSA case study can be found at http://www.business2000.ie/cases/cases_6th/case14.htm. In 2003 the HSA sent out fee copies of ‘Farm Safety Self-Assessment Document’ to farms referring to the Brian Higginson initiative (a Community care initiative for children with special needs) and which included specific reference to Child Safety Assessment.

In addition other products exist. A video, CD-Rom and “The code of practice on Irish Farming” has been circulated to all Irish primary level schools (up to 12 years old pupils). Other publications include Play Safe, Stay Safe on the Farm and Children and Safety on Farms.

Challenges

The activities, precautions and control methods set out in this Code of Practice are not exhaustive and many other agricultural activities pose a risk to children. Farmers have a responsibility to assess each activity in terms of its risk to children and young persons. Before allowing them to carry out a work activity they must decide if it is suitable for them, taking into account their level of competence and the level of supervision and instruction being provided.

Success factors

The Safety Statement is based on the farming work environment and as such it is a very practical tool. Hazards are listed, helping farmers to carry out meaningful risk assessments and measures are proposed for risk prevention or reduction.

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