Many adults and children are injured each year in farm accidents. Riding on farm machinery contributes to these accidents. Farm equipment is designed to handle one driver and no passengers. Everyone on the farm should be aware of this and never be an extra rider on equipment.
|
Adult Behavior
Safety starts with adults. Children will imitate an adult’s behavior whether it’s safe of not. Make sure proper safety procedures become a part of everyday life. Wear seat belts when driving your vehicle, and fasten small children in approved child safety seats. When riding an ATV, wear a helmet.
Children should not operate machinery until they complete safety training. Adults need to enforce this rule. Machines requiring safety training to operate include lawn mowers and ATVs. Once trained, make sure children always follow safety rules.
No Riders
Most children love the thrill of riding on tractors or other farm machinery. What starts out as innocent fun may lead to injury or death. Children should not be extra riders on any type of equipment. Playing on equipment is fun, but not safe. Children should not play in or around parked equipment.
Children’s fascination with big vehicles can lead to accidents. Adults need to take certain precautions to prevent unsupervised children from playing on equipment. Remove the ignition keys from parked equipment and lock the brakes. Equipment that might fall, such as front-end loaders or scraper blades, should be left in the down position. When parked, self-propelled machinery should be locked, and dangerous machinery components should be kept out of reach of small children. Never leave a tractor PTO in gear. Make sure protective shields are in place.
Many small children receive injuries or die in runover accidents each year. Know where they are whenever starting machinery and especially when backing up equipment. All equipment used on roads should have working lights, reflectors and a slow-moving vehicle emblem.
Children and other passengers should not be allowed to ride on farm machinery. Institute a no-rider policy on your farm and follow it. It can mean the difference between life and death.
Publication #: 2327
This Maine Farm Safety Fact Sheet is part of an educational fact sheet series produced by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. For more information on farm safety, contact your county Extension office.
Disclaimer and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
