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Report: One child dies every 3 days of farm-related injury

The latest report from the Wisconsin-based National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety shows life remains risky for children on farms, “The data that we have, to date, the most current we have tells us that about every THREE days, there’s a child that dies in an agriculture-related incident. And, every day, there are 33 children who are seriously injured in agriculture-related incidents.” That’s Marsha Salzwedel, an ag youth safety specialist with the national center, who says there is no single data source for the information in their annual reports.

She tells Brownfield how they define farm injuries, “Now, when we say seriously injured, we’re not talking about a child falling down and scraping their knee or something like that. It’s an injury that if it took place in an adult would probably require time off work.”

The leading cause of child fatalities on the farm is machinery – involved 25% of the time. Motor vehicles, including ATVs, come in second and drowning is third. The other 40% of causes vary.

Salzwedel, who grew up on a farm, says they are not suggesting children shouldn’t be raised on farms because of the risk but that injury prevention should be first and foremost.

Their findings include data from the CDC’s 2014 Occupational Safety and Health survey, the latest available.

Audio: Interview with Marsha Salzwedel~