The death of a child in a farmyard accident is beyond comprehension. Beyond despair. No matter how the accident occurred, the questions “what if” and “if only” never go away. What if the phone hadn’t rung, distracting me while the toddler headed for the yard? If only I’d taken the time to hang that gate. If only I hadn’t left the ladder against the wall. What if I hadn’t left her alone on the tractor?
These are the questions that can never be answered. The actions that can never be rewound to give a different outcome.
Nor can the location of the accident ever be erased.
It could be visible from a kitchen or bedroom window. It could be the slatted shed or the field behind the house. It will always be there, to be passed multiple times in a working day, re-igniting the loss over and over again.
So are busy farmyards no-go areas for children under the age of 12?
This approach has always been resisted by farmers who argue that introducing children to the farmyard at a young age makes them safety aware and instils in them a love of farming.
The thought of an 11-year-old distracted by scrolling through Instagram while there are cows to be milked or sheep dosed is a non-runner for most farmers.
Full supervision
The advice from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is simple and straightforward. “If under the age of 12, children should at all times be fully supervised in the farmyard. However, the farmyard is a no-go area for children under 12 if tractors and other machinery are being operated.”
And there’s good reason for this approach, says Pat Griffin of the HSA: “Sadly, in the vast majority of accidents where children are involved, tractors and machinery are also involved.”
Between 2008 and 2017 there were 210 deaths on farms and 23, or 11%, of these were of children under the age of 18.
Pat says: “A few years ago as many as five to six children were being killed on farms annually but now that figure is back to one or two. So the farm safety message is getting through. However, no child should be killed on a farm. Sadly, it’s often the ‘clued in’ child who is in an accident fatal or otherwise. No matter how clued in they are, children are unable to measure risk properly until they are aged about 10.”
Children over seven are allowed to be a passenger in a tractor but there needs to be a clear distinction between when the tractor is going for a spin or is at work.
While children under the age of 12 should be supervised at all times if they are helping to milk cows, they should never be allowed into a pen with livestock. “It’s asking for trouble,” says Pat.
Going for a spin on the tractor for the over-sevens is another farm practice that families need to have strict rules around. “There needs to be a clear distinction between when the tractor is going for a spin or is at work. A working tractor is no place for children. And children need to know that it’s out of bounds.”
If you put a young child in the cab of a tractor, they may run to the yard unsupervised at the first sound of a tractor. If carried in the cab they could inadvertently move a lever that could be fatal to them or the operator.
It must also be remembered that young children’s skulls may not be fully formed and that can lead to injury if they are in the cab of a tractor that’s bouncing around.
Most fatal accidents to children involve being crushed by vehicles in the yard where the operator’s visibility is poor or falling from tractors, trailers or other machinery.
Other causes include drowning, falling from a height, falls off ladders and accidents with big bales.
“Clearly explaining the dangers posed in circumstances such as these and setting basic ground rules works with children – they do listen and take it in,” says Pat.
Getting the farm safety message across
Martin and Siobhan Stapleton have three children, two girls and a boy between the ages of nine and 13. Martin is a dairy farmer and is chair of the IFA farm business committee.
“As the children were growing up we consistently showed them the dangers that existed in the farmyard. It was a matter of telling them again, again and again. They know how important it is to stay away from moving machinery until the operator signals he had seen them.
“It is the visiting children we worry about. I’ve seen our children explain to their friends why something is dangerous so the message has got through.”
John and Olivia McNamara are dairy farmers from Limerick. They have four children – Caoimhe, 13; Padraic, 12; Ailbhe, nine; and Conor, who is two and a half. The family were recently named Grassland Farmers of the Year.
“I grew up on a farm where my parents put a huge emphasis on everything being clean and tidy. I firmly believe this lends itself to farm safety. That stray piece of plastic blowing around, the crack in the concrete that grows wider leading to a fall. They need to be dealt with.
“We ensure there aren’t lots of places to climb on so we have one stack of bales. Medicines, tools, chemicals, spray and detergents are all locked away. Above all we talk them through the dangers, show them the photographs and videos. Children pick things up fast and getting the safety message instilled in them at a young age is vital. Even so they are always supervised when in the farmyard.”
Anna Marie McHugh is secretary general of the World Ploughing Association. She and her husband Declan Buttle have one son, Saran, eight, and they farm in Ballylinan, Co Laois, and Blackwater, Co Wexford.
“We want Saran to have a good grounding in and appreciation of farming. It’s hard to develop that if you don’t go down the yard until you are almost an adult.
“Saran is never allowed out to the yard on his own. He is either brought out by the person who will be supervising him or he is brought to the person he will be with. I worry more during the winter when it’s dark early and the yard is busy with livestock being fed and big machinery and tractors are on the move. So it’s a matter of being safety conscious all the time.
“We have two nephews and a niece under 12 and they are regular visitors so they also need a good grounding in the rules. I think it would be no harm if country schools did more about farm safety awareness as well.”
The death of a child in a farmyard accident is beyond comprehension. Beyond despair. No matter how the accident occurred, the questions “what if” and “if only” never go away. What if the phone hadn’t rung, distracting me while the toddler headed for the yard? If only I’d taken the time to hang that gate. If only I hadn’t left the ladder against the wall. What if I hadn’t left her alone on the tractor?
These are the questions that can never be answered. The actions that can never be rewound to give a different outcome.
Nor can the location of the accident ever be erased.
It could be visible from a kitchen or bedroom window. It could be the slatted shed or the field behind the house. It will always be there, to be passed multiple times in a working day, re-igniting the loss over and over again.
So are busy farmyards no-go areas for children under the age of 12?
This approach has always been resisted by farmers who argue that introducing children to the farmyard at a young age makes them safety aware and instils in them a love of farming.
The thought of an 11-year-old distracted by scrolling through Instagram while there are cows to be milked or sheep dosed is a non-runner for most farmers.
Full supervision
The advice from the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is simple and straightforward. “If under the age of 12, children should at all times be fully supervised in the farmyard. However, the farmyard is a no-go area for children under 12 if tractors and other machinery are being operated.”
And there’s good reason for this approach, says Pat Griffin of the HSA: “Sadly, in the vast majority of accidents where children are involved, tractors and machinery are also involved.”
Between 2008 and 2017 there were 210 deaths on farms and 23, or 11%, of these were of children under the age of 18.
Pat says: “A few years ago as many as five to six children were being killed on farms annually but now that figure is back to one or two. So the farm safety message is getting through. However, no child should be killed on a farm. Sadly, it’s often the ‘clued in’ child who is in an accident fatal or otherwise. No matter how clued in they are, children are unable to measure risk properly until they are aged about 10.”
Children over seven are allowed to be a passenger in a tractor but there needs to be a clear distinction between when the tractor is going for a spin or is at work.
While children under the age of 12 should be supervised at all times if they are helping to milk cows, they should never be allowed into a pen with livestock. “It’s asking for trouble,” says Pat.
Going for a spin on the tractor for the over-sevens is another farm practice that families need to have strict rules around. “There needs to be a clear distinction between when the tractor is going for a spin or is at work. A working tractor is no place for children. And children need to know that it’s out of bounds.”
If you put a young child in the cab of a tractor, they may run to the yard unsupervised at the first sound of a tractor. If carried in the cab they could inadvertently move a lever that could be fatal to them or the operator.
It must also be remembered that young children’s skulls may not be fully formed and that can lead to injury if they are in the cab of a tractor that’s bouncing around.
Most fatal accidents to children involve being crushed by vehicles in the yard where the operator’s visibility is poor or falling from tractors, trailers or other machinery.
Other causes include drowning, falling from a height, falls off ladders and accidents with big bales.
“Clearly explaining the dangers posed in circumstances such as these and setting basic ground rules works with children – they do listen and take it in,” says Pat.
Getting the farm safety message across
Martin and Siobhan Stapleton have three children, two girls and a boy between the ages of nine and 13. Martin is a dairy farmer and is chair of the IFA farm business committee.
“As the children were growing up we consistently showed them the dangers that existed in the farmyard. It was a matter of telling them again, again and again. They know how important it is to stay away from moving machinery until the operator signals he had seen them.
“It is the visiting children we worry about. I’ve seen our children explain to their friends why something is dangerous so the message has got through.”
John and Olivia McNamara are dairy farmers from Limerick. They have four children – Caoimhe, 13; Padraic, 12; Ailbhe, nine; and Conor, who is two and a half. The family were recently named Grassland Farmers of the Year.
“I grew up on a farm where my parents put a huge emphasis on everything being clean and tidy. I firmly believe this lends itself to farm safety. That stray piece of plastic blowing around, the crack in the concrete that grows wider leading to a fall. They need to be dealt with.
“We ensure there aren’t lots of places to climb on so we have one stack of bales. Medicines, tools, chemicals, spray and detergents are all locked away. Above all we talk them through the dangers, show them the photographs and videos. Children pick things up fast and getting the safety message instilled in them at a young age is vital. Even so they are always supervised when in the farmyard.”
Anna Marie McHugh is secretary general of the World Ploughing Association. She and her husband Declan Buttle have one son, Saran, eight, and they farm in Ballylinan, Co Laois, and Blackwater, Co Wexford.
“We want Saran to have a good grounding in and appreciation of farming. It’s hard to develop that if you don’t go down the yard until you are almost an adult.
“Saran is never allowed out to the yard on his own. He is either brought out by the person who will be supervising him or he is brought to the person he will be with. I worry more during the winter when it’s dark early and the yard is busy with livestock being fed and big machinery and tractors are on the move. So it’s a matter of being safety conscious all the time.
“We have two nephews and a niece under 12 and they are regular visitors so they also need a good grounding in the rules. I think it would be no harm if country schools did more about farm safety awareness as well.”
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