Child Safety

Summary: Child Safety on Farms Issues

Farmsafe Australia Inc. have launched a new Safe Play Areas campaign and has released the following documents.

These document accompany the campaign where a TV advertisement will also be launched.

Farms are great places for kids when we create the right environment, but safety for children on farms is a major concern. On average, one child under 16 years is fatally injured on an Australian farm every fortnight - with one third of those being visitors to farms. More than 10 children are hospitalised each week due to injuries and many more are treated by General Practitioners across rural Australia. The major causes of child deaths and injuries on farms are dams, farm vehicles, machinery, motorcycles and horses. Age and development characteristics also place children at greater risk.

A recent study of on-farm fatalities from 2001-2004 by the Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety found that:

Children (0-14yrs) make up 15-20% of farm injury deaths, around 66% are male.
The main agents of fatality and serious injury are:
- Drowning in dams (mostly under five year olds)
- ATVs or 4 wheeled motorbikes, and
- Farm vehicles (cars, utes)
Around 25% of all child deaths were visitors to the farm, but for ATVs around 50% are visitors.
Drowning accounts for around 35-40% on child farm deaths, with farm dams being by far the most common site.

There has been an improvement in the reduction of toddler drowning on farms in recent years - particularly a reduction of drowning in dams, which have halved since the 1990's. However, drowning is still the number one cause of child farm fatality in Australia.

A common scenario is that a toddler wanders away from the home un-noticed into farm water bodies or toward other farm hazards (vehicles, mobile machinery). Apart from dams, children can find their way into creeks, troughs, dips and irrigation channels. Children under five years of age are at greatest risk.

For non-fatal injury of children on farms, older children (5 - 14 yrs) figure more prominently - particularly in relation to injury from 2 and 4 wheeled motorbikes (and horses). Whilst there tends to be more hospital Emergency Department presentations for 2-wheeled motorbikes, injuries from ATVs are likely to be more severe or fatal. There are four times as many children being killed riding ATVs than 2 wheel motorbikes on farms (NFIDC, 2007).

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Key recommendations for child safety on farms are to create a securely fenced house yard for children to play and have safety rules that everyone knows and follows.These include ensuring children:

stay in the safe play area unless an adult can closely supervise them on the farm
wear seatbelts and restraints when in cars,utes and trucks
don't ride on tractors, ATV's or in the back of utes
always wear helmets when riding bikes and horses.

However, families still need to identify the hazards and risks specific to their farm. Controlling these risks involves not only safety behaviours, but should start with reducing hazards and designing for safety where possible. Details and ideas on ways to achieve this are provided in the CSOF Checklist; CSOF Guidance Note; the Safe Play Areas on Farms Resource and the Get Going Booklet. We also have the Child Safe Play Area DVD available which provides information on how to construct a safe play area (filmed at the Kojonup Safe Play Area Demonstration Site).

The following publications have been prepared by Farmsafe Australia to assist farmers, farm parents and farm managers to make farms safer for children. They relate to the key child injury risks on farm and best practice safety recommendations. Use Adobe Acrobat to download these resources.

Child Safety on Farms Checklist (WA) (pdf 190kb)
Key Messages Magnet (WA) (pdf 770kb)
Safe Play Areas on Farm Pamphlet (pdf 4.7Mb)
Safe Play Areas on Farms: A Resource Package (booklet pdf 1.2Mb)
Get Going. Moving Kids Safely on Farms (booklet pdf 1.1Mb)
Child Safety on Farms Guidance Note (booklet pdf 965kb)
Child Safety Factsheet 1: Key Risks and Solutions (.pdf 450kb)
Child Safety Factsheet 2: Child Development and Risk (.pdf 120kb)
Ripper II: Growing Kids on Farms
Current State of Play in Child Care for Australian Farming Families (.pdf 332kb)
Child Injury on Farms Chart Book (.pdf 1.3Mb)

Also visit the Farmsafe Australia and Aghealth Australia website for more Child Safety on Farms information. For more information on a wide range of child safety topics, please visit Kidsafe WA or for water safety information visit Royal Life Saving Society WA. Kidsafe WA also have an online safety demonstration house which provides an interactive display of things to watch within different rooms of the house.

Help us reduce child deaths and injuries on WA farms

Using the Family Farm Safety Kit in your school will help reduce the likelihood of such accidents and injuries to children who live on farms in your community. The Family Farm Safety Kit is for use by year 3 teachers.

The materials were developed by the WorkSafe Division of the Department of Consumer and Employment Protection to help educate rural children about some of the most common hazards on farms.

If you have any further queries about the kit please contact WorkSafe's

Publications Officer on (08) 9327 8775.

WorkSafe SmartMove - Primary Industry Education Module

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