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Building a Child-Safe Farm Plan

A plan puts the most important child safety steps in one place. This guide walks through building one that fits your farm, your family and your seasons.

What is a child-safe farm plan?

It is a written set of decisions about where children play, what is locked away, who supervises, and what everyone does in an emergency. It turns good intentions into specific actions that everyone can follow.

Keep it simple and honest. A plan you can follow on your worst day is better than a perfect plan you never use.

Include money in the plan. Fences, locks and signs cost something, so list what you will do now, what you will do this year and what can wait. Ask your extension office about cost-sharing or safety programs.

How do you start?

Walk the farm slowly with a notebook, looking from a child's height. Note every place a child could reach that has a hazard: machines, animals, water, storage, chemicals, roads and heights.

Then ask who lives on, works on and visits the farm, and how old each child is. A plan for a toddler differs from a plan for a teenager.

Do not forget the places that are only used occasionally, such as old barns, abandoned wells, ponds and burn piles. They often pose the greatest risk because no one is watching them.

• Walk the farm at a child's height
• List hazards by location
• Note each child's age and needs
• Include visitors and workers

What are the main parts of the plan?

Start with a safe play area: fenced, near the house, visible from where adults work. Next, lock or secure hazards: chemicals, tools, keys, bins and ladders. Then set boundaries and rules that children can understand.

Add supervision: who watches the children at each time of day and in each season. Finally, write the emergency plan, with address, numbers and roles.

Make a place for the plan. A binder or folder by the phone, plus a photo on each adult's phone, means the plan is where people will look for it.

How do you plan for seasons?

Risks change with the seasons. Spring brings planting and calving, summer brings water and heat, fall brings harvest and winter brings cold and ice. Review the plan before each season and adjust.

Pay particular attention to the busiest times, when adults are tired and children are most likely to be unwatched.

Plan for crises that affect adults too, such as illness or injury to a parent. Name a backup caregiver and make sure children know who to call.

How do you involve the whole family?

Hold a family meeting to explain the plan, and ask for ideas. Children are more likely to follow rules they helped shape. Give each person a role, such as checking latches or leading a drill.

Share the plan with relatives, hired workers and babysitters, and post it where it is easy to find. Include a short checklist for the end of each day: gates latched, keys put away, chemicals locked, equipment parked in its place and children accounted for. It takes a minute and catches the small gaps that cause the worst surprises.

Celebrate progress. Each fence repaired, lock added or drill completed makes the farm safer, and children notice when adults take it seriously.

How do you practice and improve?

Practice parts of the plan: calling 911, meeting at the safe place, checking latches. After any close call, update the plan. Review it at least once a year, and whenever the farm or the family changes.

Ask your fire department, extension office or a safety educator to look at your plan and suggest improvements. Ask each family member what worries them most about the farm. The answers often reveal hazards that the adults overlooked, and the conversation itself builds a shared habit of noticing.

Ask for input from grandparents and neighbors who know the history of your farm. They may remember hazards, such as an old well or a weak bridge, that are no longer obvious.

Where can you get help?

The NIOSH agriculture pages, the Progressive Agriculture Foundation, OSHA's agriculture page and your state extension office publish tools and checklists. Many offer free materials and training.

In an emergency, call 911. Do not try improvised rescues, and rely on trained responders. Think about the days when routine breaks down: a vehicle breakdown, a sick child, a storm or a family event. Plans fail most often on these days, so decide in advance who watches the children and where they go.

Keep a copy of the plan with your insurance papers and share it with your insurer if they ask. Some insurers offer safety resources for farm families.

Last reviewed: November 12, 2026. Written by the Farm Safety Editorial Team. See our editorial policy.