Farming is not child's play

The fourth annual Farm Safety Week offered a week of themed practical advice and guidance for farmers and urges farmers to consider “Who would fill your boots?” if something were to happen to them and never is this more poignant than when children are involved… According to the Farm Safety Foundation’s Stephanie Berkeley: “We all know that farms can be wonderful places for children, where independence and responsibility are fostered, and family relationships are strengthened. The farm environment provides children with valuable and unique experiences that enable them to develop both socially and physically, even though they are in an isolated setting. However farmyards are not playgrounds and evidence shows that this places children at greater risk of injury when playing or helping out around the farm.”

“Farms remain the only workplace where children still continue to die. Many of us think about the issues surrounding young children on the farm and how to protect them from the many hazards in such a dangerous environment. Few of us actually consider the older child who is maybe working with us and exposed to an additional danger, children like George Hitchcock from Belper in Derbyshire.”

2.00pm 3 January 2013 - a moment 16 year old George will never ever forget. George was helping his older cousin Susan on Slade’s Farm in Belper, owned by his 47 year old Uncle Harold, something George did every day. They were loading the new £30,000 Hispec V12 baling machine with straw and Harold was still excited about the purchase he had made only one month before… "Uncle Harold always seemed to be in a hurry" recalls George: "He would often take shortcuts especially with this job. He never liked to cut the straw bales on the farmyard ground and lift them up in two goes. That's the way Susan and my other cousin Stephen did it. That's the right way, but Harold thought that was a waste of time. Plus it was windy and he hated the idea that the straw might blow away and get wasted so he had a plan. He would get us to pick the bales up and he would climb the ladder to the top of the seven foot feeder and cut the strings at the top. The machine wasn’t operating as we would load the straw first and then add silage and liquids to make the feed.”

George recalls going with Susan to get the silage and Harold climbed the steps to cut the strings on the bale.

"When we returned Harold was nowhere to be seen.” He continues: “We could have only been gone for a minute so we started calling out for him but there was no answer. I went straight up the ladder and spotted my uncle underneath the corkscrew."

“Susan climbed into the feeder while I called my Aunt Carol to get the emergency services. They told us to keep pumping his chest and that the air ambulance would be with us as quickly as possible. We kept talking to him and pumping his chest until we heard the noise of the chopper coming but it couldn’t see us as we were in the feeder. We had to wave something around so they could see us but his lips were turning blue so we knew it was probably too late.”

The emergency services thought they would have to cut a hole in the side of the machine – something that George’s uncle would have hated as the machine was only a month old – thankfully this particular product has a side door which they were able to access. Unfortunately on the fall Harold had suffered a broken neck and was pronounced dead at the scene. George who is now studying agriculture at Derby College explains “I was only 13 at the time but even I knew that this wasn’t a safe way to do this job. You can tidy up a bit of straw in the yard and it doesn’t waste that much in the scheme of things.

“We were interviewed by the Health & Safety Executive afterwards and looking back it all feels very surreal. It is strange that we are still using this machine every day but I suppose it’s a permanent reminder to take your time and work safely. Don’t try to cut corners - there’s always a safe way to do the task.”

Stephanie added: “This is a different take on children on farms. I met George when we were doing our Introduction to Farm Safety training at Derby College a few months ago and he shared his experience with us and the rest of his class. Many of whom weren’t aware that he had undergone such an experience.

“George is a very brave young man for allowing us to use his story. It clearly demonstrates that children can be particularly vulnerable on the farm. Farmers of all ages; the message all week has been Who would fill your boots? if something were to happen to you but have you ever thought what if it were your son, your daughter or your young relative who were to be the first on the scene of your accident? How would this affect them? What about the example you are showing them? These are impressionable young minds who often learn their behaviours from their older counterparts so are you teaching the new generation to respect their lives, plan ahead and avoid risks or are you putting them in as much danger as you yourself?”