One of the biggest problems for new lifestyle block owners is educating their children to the dangers that exist in their new environment.

Lifestyle blocks are filled with hundreds of potential risks: large, powerful machinery; watering holes; unpredictable animals weighing hundreds of kilos; pesticides; fertilizers; and numerous buildings that are not child-safe. Injuries are most common among children 10 to 14 years of age, followed by children five to nine years of age. Two thirds of the injured were boys with the most frequent injuries being fractures/dislocations and cuts/lacerations/abrasions. Contributing factors are uneven terrain, equipment and machinery, and farm structures. For New Zealand, it has been found:

• incidents involving motorcycles and All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) resulted in around 6% of all fatalities on farms.
• about 20% of all non-fatal injuries requiring hospitalisation.
• the fracture of a lower limb occurred in 30% of all on-farm motorbike accidents. (source ACC)

Read on for the vital information that you need to know!