Safety on the farm

"But there are many dangers facing people on farms and it is necessary for us to come and talk to you and tell you what they are.

"I hope you will not only listen and understand, but that you will tell your friends and warn them if they are doing things that are silly."

But while farms do contain their dangers, they are also very pleasant places to visit, particularly during summer holidays. Frequently, farmers are all too pleased to show people around their land and encourage a better understanding of how things work on a farm.

However, they are often angered by people who venture across their premises uninvited. For not only can those people cause damage and harm by trespassing, they are also putting themselves at risk from a number of factors - often ones which aren't immediately obvious.

Mr Rhodes told Year Six: "It would be awful if you went away from here and said you would never go on a farm again. That would be wrong, because there is so much to enjoy and it must be very nice living in Pool and Arthington because it is surrounded by just that sort of land.

"But there are just two words to remember when you are near a farm or near animals - 'be careful'."

All the children in Year Six had been to a farm, many during a school visit to Bentham. And they had a few ideas about what was dangerous. "Animals might get really angry," said one. Another pupil said he thought machinery should be avoided.

"There could also be acid and things like that," added another boy. "There certainly could, because all farms have chemicals of some sort," answered Mr Rhodes.

While they might look friendly from a distance, farm animals can be dangerous to people who go into their fields when they shouldn't. The most obvious one is the bull.

The safest thing to do is simply avoid the beasts - if a sign tells you there is a bull in a field, don't go in there. Mr Rhodes added: "There are some bulls which are allowed to be in fields because they are thought to be safe and quiet but you must still be careful.

"Never turn your back on a bull, don't excite it and never, ever go into a bull's field with a dog. Animals can be as frightened of you as you might be of them and that is why an animal will do whatever it can to get away."

Even the more placid members of the bull family pose their own threat. As one Pool pupil pointed out, a cow could be dangerous if you were playing near its calf. "It will want to protect its young and it will react in the the only way it knows - by attacking," said Mr Rhodes.

"And a cow can weigh half a ton. Half a ton on your toes, legs or anywhere else is likely to make you come off worse."

Although one girl said she thought pigs were 'lazy', they can actually be quite a fright. Pigs have extremely sharp teeth and you should always keep your hands and feet out of their way. You should never let them know you are frightened because like a dog, they can sense it, and may be provoked into attack.

Even fluffy sheep hide a few risks - especially if there's a ram in the field. "In the mating season, if you go into a field with rams and go anywhere near the female sheep, the ram will chase you off," said one pupil.

"That's right," said Mr Rhodes. "At certain times of the year, just before mating season - August, September and October - rams can be very aggressive. If you disturb a ram it will be angry because it has other things on its mind."

Many pupils said they had played on haystacks, even though several said they knew they could be dangerous because you could fall off, or you could be hit by heavy hay bales.

"But you can have fun if you don't get careless," said Mr Rhodes. "Just remember one thing you must not do is get matches anywhere near hay.

"Hay goes up in flames like nothing else and if you are inside a farm building - it could have an asbestos roof which will go off like a firework display and is extremely dangerous."

Other dangers which could be hidden in farm buildings are chemicals - including insects and crop sprays, diesel and petrol for machines and sheep dip chemicals, which will be on a lot of farms.

The buildings themselves might not be safe and could contain slurry stores which are very dangerous and are full of nasty waste liquids. "Never play around those," warned Mr Rhodes.

And finally, just as you would not play with a car - especially if it was running - you should never play with any farm machinery. It's best just to steer well clear.

But it isn't just animals which can be dangerous and not all farm work happens on the farm itself. Auction marts can be very risky places as well.

"I go every Monday and I see a lot of dangerous things happening. And as soon as the school holidays start, children who are on their own tend to come to the auction because they think it's fun and they wander about and there's always a chance something could go wrong."

Those possibilities include the huge cattle wagons which load and unload the animals for sale. Children - or adults - who get in the way of the lorries when they are moving about or dropping off the animals could easily be injured.

"Although they can also be great fun and very good to watch. All you must be aware of is that you should never really go on your own and as I keep saying to you, just be careful."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.