Children must be kept safely away from any agricultural activities during the summer holidays, the UK's safety watchdog has reminded farmers.
Every year children are killed or seriously injured on farms across the country, most of who are family members, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
Its farming fatalities report for 2021/22 shows that eight children were killed on farms between April 2017 and March 2022.
And since the report was published, there have been more child fatalities on farms, including a three-year-old boy who died following a collision with a tractor.
The HSE has provided guidance and advice to farmers on helping to keep children safe on the farm this summer.
Children must not be allowed in the farm workplace, the HSE says, while young children should enjoy outdoor space in a secure fenced area.
Any access to work areas by children under 16, for education, knowledge or experience, must be planned and fully supervised by an adult not engaged in any work activity.
Children under the age of 13 are specifically prohibited from driving or riding on any agricultural machine, HSE says: "It is illegal, and it is never safe to have a child in the cab."
It adds that properly trained, instructed, and supervised older children can safely help with some straightforward tasks.
HSE’s acting principal inspector, Wayne Owen said: "Farmers must ensure that any children living or visiting the farm are safe; they must be kept out of the workplace.
"Farms are full of hazards – vehicles and other machines, large animals, deep lagoons, a variety of chemicals and hazardous dusts – they are not a place for children, unless risk is very carefully managed.
"Farm work should stop immediately if an unsupervised child appears in any work area."