Farm Safety for Kids

Farms can be exciting places for kids — full of animals to see, room to run, and new things to explore. But it’s important to remember that farms are also workplaces, and they come with safety risks for children of all ages. Unfortunately, more than 100,000 children are injured on U.S. farms every year, and more than 22,000 of these children are treated at emergency departments for their injuries.

The highest number of farm-related deaths happen in children younger than 4 years old, who are still developing coordination and don’t always understand danger. Common causes of injury for children younger than 6 years include falls, drowning, encounters with large animals, and tractors or other machinery.

Most farms do not have fenced play areas for young children. Setting one up can help keep young children out of harm’s way. It must be free of hazards, away from where work is being done, and easy for you to keep your eye on:

• Set it up where an adult can always easily see and hear children.
• Make sure it’s away from traffic, water, poisonous plants, animals, farm equipment and too much direct sunlight.
• Use fences, gates or closely planted shrubs to close in the play area and keep children away from unsafe areas.
• Cut the grass and check for hazards regularly.

Tips for Safe Play Outside

• Always supervise young children.
• Cover the ground under and around any play equipment and tree houses with safety surfacing such as woodchips or mulch.
• Skip the trampoline. Backyard trampolines can lead to serious injuries, even if they have safety net siding.
• Make sure children wear a helmet every time they ride a bike or use skates, scooters or skateboards, and during winter sports, like sledding.
• Lock up things that could be poisonous to your child. Poisons on farms include pesticides, plants, cleaning products, fuel, and animal medications.
• Apply sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 on your child 30 minutes before playing and reapply the sunscreen every 2 hours. Remember that sunscreen is needed on cloudy days, too.
• Set strict limits about where and when children are allowed to play outside. Always enforce the rules.

Drowning

• Drowning can happen very quickly, silently and in just inches of water. Beware of ditches, troughs, creeks or anything that can collect water.
• Put up a 4-sided fence, one that is at least 4 feet high and has a gate that closes and latches on its own, around all bodies of water.
• Install rescue posts near ponds and other large bodies of water. Include nylon rope, a life buoy and a rescue pole.
• Learn CPR. When seconds count, CPR can save a life.

Animal Safety

• Always supervise young children around livestock.
• Teach children how to treat animals, where to stand, which animals to avoid, and how to tell if an animal is upset or stressed.
• Always wear closed-toe shoes around animals.

Farm Vehicles

• Never let children play on or near farm vehicles, even if the vehicle is not in use.
• Remove the keys when a farm vehicle is not in use and keep keys out of sight and reach of children.
• Children should never be passengers or extra riders on ride-on lawn mowers, tractors, ATVs, wagons, and truck beds. Children should not drive these vehicles until they are at least 16 old and trained.

Barn Safety:

• Do not let children play in a barn unsupervised
• Lock fixed ladders on barns and silos to prevent children from playing on them.