Child Farm Safety Week – Help your children ‘draw’ from your experience

Child Farm Safety Week 2021 begins today, and HSENI is launching the annual ‘Avoid Harm on the Farm’ child safety poster competition to mark the event.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Jun 2021, 15:49 BST

Keeping children safe on our farms remains a priority.

Farmyards are busy workplaces and children are more at risk during the long school summer holidays as they spend more time on the farm. The farm can be a place of great fun and excitement for children but it can also be an extremely dangerous environment.

All too often, children have access to the entire farm and view it as one big play space. Children must be taught about farm dangers and be kept away from the risks.

To highlight child farm safety, HSENI is launching the annual ‘Avoid Harm on the Farm’ child safety poster competition, encouraging children to recognise the dangers on farms and to illustrate a farm safety message.

This competition has been running successfully for a number of years and is now open for another year. The closing date for the competition is 30 June 2021 and children can enter a drawing on any topic related to farm safety.

HSENI CEO Robert Kidd, said: “HSENI are highlighting the need for the farming community to ensure that children are kept safe on the farm. I would ask our farming families to think about the risks and put simple practical measures in place to make sure their children are safe at all times.

“The annual poster competition is an ideal way for parents to remind their children about how to stay safe on the farm, and to create safety messages that have a chance of being included in our 2022 calendar. I would encourage parents to help their children identify dangers such as silage harvesting, slurry operations, and illustrate to us their ideas for farm safety.

“Encourage your children to enjoy the farmyard, but remember, their young age, lack of maturity and experience could potentially expose them to dangerous situations.”

Information for parents on child safety can be found at: www.hseni.gov.uk/articles/farmsafetyinfoparents

Details about the poster competition and the terms and conditions can be found at: www.hseni.gov.uk/articles/postercompetition2021