Farm Injuries Among Children On The Rise
Saturday, December 21st, 2013 -- 9:10 AM
Farm injury rates among children younger than age 10 are on the rise, despite a continued overall decline in the rate of childhood agricultural injuries in the U.S.These trends are highlighted in the 2014 Childhood Agricultural Injuries Fact Sheet compiled by the National Children?s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation. Since 1998, the overall rate of non-fatal child injuries per 1,000 farms has declined by 61 percent.
The decline can be attributed to several factors, including leadership and funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, high-quality research, privately-funded community-based safety programs, national Children?s Center initiatives to establish consensus-driven safety guidelines and willingness of farm owners and parents to end unsafe traditions and adopt new practices involving children and young workers.
Still, on average, a child dies in an agriculture-related incident every three days, and 38 children are injured each day. That equals about 115 deaths and 13,996 injuries per year.
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