With more rural students than ever being out of school, it is likely they will end up on the farm to help mom and dad. However, this option of child care also brings an increase in the need to be aware of farm safety procedures. About every three days, a child dies in an agriculture-related incident, and each day, at least 33 children are seriously injured according to the 2020 Childhood Agricultural Injuries Fact Sheet compiled by the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, part of Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, Marshfield, Wisconsin.
Even though farm safety is practiced everyday, accidents still happen. The leading sources of fatalities involved transportation (47 percent), which includes tractors and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), and contact with machinery (20 percent).
Other notable statistics on occupational injuries among youth:
- From 2001 to 2015, 48 percent of all fatal occupational injuries to young workers occurred in agriculture.
- Since 2009, youth worker fatalities in agriculture have exceeded all other industries combined.
- Young workers are nearly 8 times more likely to be fatally injured in agriculture compared to all other industries combined.
- Youth under age 16 have 12 times the risk of ATV injuries compared to adults.
“There is no central database on childhood agricultural injuries,” said Barbara Lee, Ph.D., director of the National Children’s Center. “In putting together this fact sheet we draw upon the best available data from a variety of sources.”
For information and resources to prevent child agricultural injuries, visit www.cultivatesafety.org. To monitor, explore, or subscribe to the latest injury reports, visit the ag injury website.
You can find the complete fact sheet here.
