University of California, Davis
Dealing with "safe" play areas on farms
Barbara Lee, National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield, WI
Safety guidelines exist for public playgrounds and residential play areas,
but no comparable information was available regarding children’s outdoor
play on agricultural sites. While some safety specialists insisted that small
children be removed from farm sites, others acknowledged the reality of farming
and family life, encouraging a compromise to address small children on farms.
Our goal was to develop a guidance document for constructing new, or modifying
current, play areas on farms applicable for children ages 2 to 10 years.
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A 10-member primary advisory team of specialists in injury prevention, child development, and public playground safety was formed. Document content was generated via in-person meetings, teleconference calls, and emails. Feedback sessions with farm parents were convened in Wisconsin, Iowa, and New York. Secondary reviewers critiqued content for accuracy, completeness, and regional applications. Customized illustrations were commissioned to visually depict key information.
The issue of “safe” areas for children on farms was debated from the start. The project team worked through many complex issues that were practical for farms but contradicted public playground recommendations (e.g. use of trees for hanging tire swings). In feedback sessions, parents requested more practical information, such as using available farm materials that can be modified as children grow. An illustrated guidance document, “Creating Safe Play Areas on Farms,” was published in April 2003 describing safe and unsafe play areas on farms, environmental factors unique to agricultural settings, low cost and “nature-made” play ideas for a farm, and worksheets for designing play areas (http://research.marshfieldclinc.org/children). Future efforts will include strategies with the agricultural media, agricultural organizations, and youth-serving groups to influence farm owners to adopt these recommendations in order to protect young children from preventable, agriculture-related injuries and fatalities.
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