Avoiding Infections During Farm Visits

Revised guidance has been published to help those visiting farms avoid infections. The guidance for operators, published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), has been revised and now applies not only to farms but to other premises where the public can come into contact with animals. In addition to open (or ‘petting’) farms, it is now applicable to farms that have occasional open days or offer bed and breakfast accommodation, markets, shows and any other sites where animals are kept and which are open to the public. This guidance includes a supplement for teachers and others who organise visits for children.

Much of this guidance refers specifi cally to the verocytotoxin-producing bacterium E coli O157 because it poses a serious hazard to the health of people visiting such premises. E coli O157 can potentially cause serious illness, especially in young children, in whom symptoms may include bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure.

‘Avoiding ill-health at open farms: advice to farmers’ is available as a PDF on the HSE website.

The publication updates previous HSE advice on avoiding infections on farm visits. It has been reviewed and revised following the outbreak of verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC) at Godstone Farm in Surrey in 2009, when nearly 100 people, mostly children, became ill.

Following this outbreak the HPA launched an independent inquiry, which was chaired by Professor George Griffi n. Among the recommendations made by the inquiry was that specifi c guidance for farm operators (and that available to the general public) should be revised to ensure that potential public health risks associated with animals were clear to all, and that operators assessed their premises and took appropriate action to minimise these risks as far as possible.

An information leafl et for members of the public titled ‘Avoiding infection on farm visits’ has also recently been revised and jointly published by the Department of Health, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This is available as a PDF on the HPA website.

A more detailed consideration of the revised guidance for farmers will be published in ‘In Practice’ in the next few months. OVs are encouraged to read the guidance so they can properly advise clients should they seek assistance in undertaking a risk assessment of their premises.