Eric
Hallman
Cornell Cooperative Extension
Every
year between 175 and 300 children are killed in the United
States while working or playing on the farm. Another 23,000
are seriously injured. New York State farms are not immune
from such tragedies.
Why
are children at such risk on farms? Part of the answer lies
within the structure of the agricultural industry. Production
agriculture employs many individuals whose age is outside
of that found in other industries -- below the age of 18 and
over the age of 62.
Children
on farms are often exposed to a wide array of occupational
and environmental hazards that are not present in other industries.
In addition to young individuals who work on the farm, many
youngsters live and play around the farm exposing themselves
to hazards that are uniquely dangerous.
Children
take on many roles around the farm including working, accompanying
adults, and playing. Agriculture-related injuries can occur
during all of these facets of farm life.
Many
children are injured while working. Injuries can occur when
children operate and work around machinery. Injury scenarios
can include tractor rollovers, falls from equipment or ladders,
and entanglement in power take-off shafts and other machine
components such as augers. Children are injured during livestock-related
chores, such as feeding animals or cleaning out livestock
pens, and are most often kicked, bitten, or crushed by animals
much larger than themselves.
What
you can do:
- Make
sure that a child is old enough (physically and mentally
capable) to safely complete a job.
- Before
allowing a child to operate or work around machinery, train
them in its proper operation, making sure that the child
understands the following:
- how
to shut off the machine
- the
basic theory of how the machine functions
- what
aspects of the machine present special hazards
- Allow
the child worker to take rest breaks when tired.
- Remember
that the child's understanding of the machine is not as
thorough as yours.
Children
have been injured while accompanying adults. As the extra
rider, numerous children have been run over after falling
off of a tractor. Too many children have been injured or killed
by riding on trailed equipment and falling off, sometimes
going underneath the equipment itself. Children riding in
grain trucks and gravity-flow unloading wagons have been suffocated
by flowing grain.
What
you can do:
- For
your child's sake do not let them ride on equipment unless
it is specifically designed for an extra rider.
- Do
not let youngsters enter a grain truck, wagon, or grain
bin, especially when the grain is flowing.
- Always
keep an accompanying child within eyesight. Know their whereabouts
at all times.
Children
are injured while playing. The farmyard can seem like a giant
playground just waiting to be explored and conquered. The
painful reality is that kids are injured while playing in
work areas or while watching someone else work.
All
too real examples include: being backed over by trucks, tractors,
and implements; falling off of ladders, hay mows, or through
floors; becoming entangled in augers, power take-offs, or
gutter cleaners; ingesting milk pipeline cleaner, pesticides,
and other harmful chemicals; and falling into and drowning
in manure pits, lagoons, wells, stock tanks, and ponds.
What
you can do:
- Provide
a play area that is fenced off from machinery and other
hazards.
- Designate
hazardous farm areas as "off limits" to children.
- Make
sure you know where your children are at all times.
- Be
sure ladders that are "off limits" end at least seven feet
above the ground to prevent child access.
- Do
not leave pesticide or caustic cleaner containers in child
accessible areas.
- Do
not let youngsters play in grain bins, grain trucks, or
grain wagons.
- Maintain
your equipment and be sure that all guards and shields are
in place and functioning.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent
NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission
of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
Eric
Hallman, Safety Engineer, Department of Agricultural and Biological
Engineering, New York State College of Agriculture and Life
Sciences, Cornell
Source:
Cornell Cooperative Extension, Cornell University, Ithaca,
NY
Provider: Ag Information Services -- News & Publications,
Penn State
August 2, 1993.
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