Rates of child farm-related injuries have remained constant over the last 20 years, despite ongoing efforts to reduce them.
This, the Victorian Farmers Federation said, was concerning, as injuries were largely preventable.
The VFF has established a Child Safety on Farm Steering Committee.
A key part of the committee is to understand injury risk and safety behaviours of children on Victorian farms.
The Hamilton-based National Centre of Farmer Health is conducting a study to investigate how the common behaviours, attitudes and lifestyles on Victorians farms are contributing to child farm-related injuries.
The study is being led by Deakin University student Jessie Adams, who wants to investigate how the common behaviours, attitudes and lifestyles on Victorian farms are contributing to these injury rates. "There is a romantic view that farms are healthy places for children to grow and develop, and they can be," Ms Adams said.
"However, they are also a work environment consisting of many hazards and dangers not typically present at most homes.
"We know being involved in the family farm is part of growing up on the farm, but Australian research is yet to understand children's exposure to occupational hazards, their risk-taking behaviours or to what extent common safety measures are being used on farms.
"This study will give us important insight into the context of children's experiences on Victorian farms and help develop targeted ways to prevent fatal and non-fatal child injuries." The study is seeking the involvement of rural Victorian children aged 5 to 14 years, who live on a farm or visit a farm regularly (at least twice in the last year), as well as their parents.
Participants will complete an online survey.
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