Farm dams and summer holidays
January 08, 2014 , 10:39 AM by Jo Printz
Most are under the age of five, and a third of them are visitors on the farm.
That's why it's important for farmers and landholders with dams on their properties to carefully consider their safety pre-cautions over the summer holiday period when children are more likely to be active outdoors or visiting and unfamiliar with their surroundings.
Southern Rural Water has more than 3,000 dams registered across the southern half of Victoria and estimates there are thousands more smaller domestic and stock dams on rural properties.
SRW's General Manager of Groundwater and Rivers, Craig Parker spoke with Jo Printz on the issue, and you can listen to that audio here:
Some tips to consider where possible:
* secure fenced-in play areas
* have interesting play items readily available and located away from dams, like sandpits, swings, cubbies, balls etc
* cover water hazards near the house, such as old tanks and troughs
More info: farmsafe.org.au