The UK's safety watchdog is calling on the farming industry to ensure children are safe on the farm while they stay home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Every year children are killed or seriously injured during agricultural work activities, most of which are family members.
Just this week, a six-year-old girl was airlifted to hospital after she was struck by a vehicle on a farm in Camelford, Cornwall on Monday 30 March.
A spokeswoman for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Police were called at 4:20pm to farmland in Camelford following reports of a collision involving a vehicle and a child."
In 2019 alone, two children, both aged 3, were killed on British farms in incidents that could have been prevented.
With schools now closed due to the spread of Covid-19, more children will be staying at home on the farms.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is now reminding farmers that they should be kept safely away from any work activities.
Although many agricultural workers are in the ‘essential key workers’ list so their children can go to school, many will be at home for longer periods.
Farmers have been urged to take note of government advice on self-isolation and social distancing and apply this on-farm.
HSE’s Head of Agriculture, Adrian Hodkinson, said work life should always be separated from home life - and farming should be 'no different to any other job'.
"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.
“Not only would causing harm to a child be devastating for the family, part of the reason we must stay home during the coronavirus pandemic is to protect the NHS and avoid burdening services with injuries and issues that are avoidable," he said.
"Farm work should stop immediately if an unsupervised child appears in any work area.”
How can I keep children safe on the farm?
• Keep children out of work areas, play areas should be secure and away from the work area
• If children are in a work area, they must be closely supervised by an adult who isn’t involved in any work
• Children under the age of 13 years are specifically prohibited from driving or riding on any agricultural machine
• Keep children out of pens, out of handling facilities and well away when animals are being moved or handled.
