Guidelines for families/groups visiting open farms

Pendle Council is encouraging visitors to open farms to take sensible precautions when visiting open farms. The Council's Environmental Health Officers are keen to pass on simple but effective messages to help reduce the risk of illnesses such as E.coli.

The Health Protection Agency (HPA)  has produced some simple guidelines for families visiting open farms:

• You should assume that all cattle, sheep and goats are infected with E. coli O157 bacteria, even if the animals look clean and healthy.
• You can therefore pick up E. coli O157 by touching animals, fences and other surfaces and accidentally transfer the bacteria to your mouth.
• Children, especially those under 5, are particularly vulnerable to E. coli O157 infection and are more likely to suffer very serious illness as a result.
• Washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water will reduce the chance of infection.
• Remember to wash your hands after touching an animal, before eating or drinking, and after removing clothing and shoes worn on the farm.
• Children should be closely supervised to ensure that they wash their hands properly after contact with animals.

More information is available in a leaflet that can be downloaded from the HPA website.

• Understanding and managing the risks from E. coli O157 in an open farm context - Download (PDF, 412kb)
  

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have published a leaflet for farmers giving more advice on how to avoid ill health at open farms. You can download the leaflet at the HSE website as a PDF document.

• Avoiding Ill Health at Open Farms Leaflet - Download (PDF, 82.4kb)