Child Safety on Farm

Growing up on a farm offers an idyllic and unique lifestyle for our farm kids.

We want kids to grow up safely and harmoniously with what’s happening on the farm. Sadly, the rates of child farm-related injury in rural Australia have remained constant over the last 20 years, despite ongoing efforts to reduce them. This is concerning, as injuries are largely preventable.

The VFF Making Our Farms Safer team is committed to improving child farm safety. We have established a Child Safety on Farm Steering Committee to lead the industry and address this important issue.

We have created a short survey for grandparents who are still active in farming to help us understand how the common behaviours, attitudes and lifestyles on Victorian farms are contributing to child farm related injuries.

Help us by completing this survey.

Question Title

* 1. What is your current farming situation?

I live and work on farm

I only work on the farm

I only live on the farm

I've moved away and visit occasionally

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 2. Which of the following best describes your primary farming type?

Grain producer

Livestock producer

Dairy farmer

Mixed operation farm

Horticulture

Intensive farm

Fruit or nut farming

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. How old are your grandchild(ren)?

Aged 0-10 years

Aged 11-15 years

Both of the above

Question Title

* 4. Do the grandkids do activities on your farm under your supervision that they aren’t allowed to do at another time? If so, what are these activities and why do you allow them to do it?

Question Title

* 5. Is it a high priority to role model good farm safety practices?

0= low priority, 5=high priority

Clear

i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

Question Title

* 6. Are there barriers preventing your from implementing child farm safety measures? What are they?

Question Title

* 7. Now, thinking about a child farm accident (or near miss) you may have experienced, please tell us which of the following factors, if any, may have contributed to the accident or near miss. You can select more than one

Child’s ‘fearless’ attitude

Changing weather conditions

Complacency

Child cutting corners when performing a task

Distracted child

Inexperienced child

Lack of training for the child

Lack of knowledge for the child

Lack of understanding of dangers of equipment for the child

Unpredictable animals and environment

I haven’t experienced a child accident or near miss

Old/ not serviced/ broken machinery/ equipment

Child completing not developmentally appropriate tasks

None of those

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 8. Thinking about sources for child on-farm safety information, how valuable are each of the following information sources to you. Use a 0-5 scale where 0 means little value and 5 means great value

	1	2	3	4	5
Social media	Social media 1	Social media 2	Social media 3	Social media 4	Social media 5
Word of mouth from neighbours, retailers, agronomists and others	Word of mouth from neighbours, retailers, agronomists and others 1	Word of mouth from neighbours, retailers, agronomists and others 2	Word of mouth from neighbours, retailers, agronomists and others 3	Word of mouth from neighbours, retailers, agronomists and others 4	Word of mouth from neighbours, retailers, agronomists and others 5
Rural press such as newspapers/ farm magazines	Rural press such as newspapers/ farm magazines 1	Rural press such as newspapers/ farm magazines 2	Rural press such as newspapers/ farm magazines 3	Rural press such as newspapers/ farm magazines 4	Rural press such as newspapers/ farm magazines 5
Google search	Google search 1	Google search 2	Google search 3	Google search 4	Google search 5
Manufacturer’s information	Manufacturer’s information 1	Manufacturer’s information 2	Manufacturer’s information 3	Manufacturer’s information 4	Manufacturer’s information 5
Podcasts	Podcasts 1	Podcasts 2	Podcasts 3	Podcasts 4	Podcasts 5
Schools	Schools 1	Schools 2	Schools 3	Schools 4	Schools 5
Grower groups	Grower groups 1	Grower groups 2	Grower groups 3	Grower groups 4	Grower groups 5
Farm safety apps/ subscriptions	Farm safety apps/ subscriptions 1	Farm safety apps/ subscriptions 2	Farm safety apps/ subscriptions 3	Farm safety apps/ subscriptions 4	Farm safety apps/ subscriptions 5
State-based government WorkSafe authorities	State-based government WorkSafe authorities 1	State-based government WorkSafe authorities 2	State-based government WorkSafe authorities 3	State-based government WorkSafe authorities 4	State-based government WorkSafe authorities 5
Other sources, please specify	Other sources, please specify 1	Other sources, please specify 2	Other sources, please specify 3	Other sources, please specify 4	Other sources, please specify 5

Child Safety on Farm

Question Title

* 1. What is your current farming situation?

Question Title

* 2. Which of the following best describes your primary farming type?

Question Title

* 3. How old are your grandchild(ren)?

Question Title

* 4. Do the grandkids do activities on your farm under your supervision that they aren’t allowed to do at another time? If so, what are these activities and why do you allow them to do it?

Question Title

* 5. Is it a high priority to role model good farm safety practices?

Question Title

* 6. Are there barriers preventing your from implementing child farm safety measures? What are they?

Question Title

* 7. Now, thinking about a child farm accident (or near miss) you may have experienced, please tell us which of the following factors, if any, may have contributed to the accident or near miss. You can select more than one

Question Title

* 8. Thinking about sources for child on-farm safety information, how valuable are each of the following information sources to you. Use a 0-5 scale where 0 means little value and 5 means great value

Question Title

* 9. What are some of the safety practices that you have adopted in your experience? How did you keep your kids safe?

Question Title

* 10. Have you become more concerned about child farm safety over time? If so, what are your concerns?

Question Title

* 11. On average, how much time would your grandchildren spend in active farming areas? For example: yards, paddocks, shearing sheds

Question Title

* 12. What safety measures do you have in place? What are the farm rules on your farm?

Question Title

* 13. Do the older siblings care for younger kids during farm visits?