Friday, January 10, 2014

Injury rate for children living on farms declines, but rate for those under age 10 jumps

A federal study has found that "Young children face an increased risk of injury on farms, even though the overall number of youth hurt in agricultural accidents continues to decline," both in raw numbers and injury rates, The Associated Press reports.

The Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey estimated that 14,000 people younger than 20 were injured on farms in 2012, about 2,000 fewer than it estimated in 2009. That's probably because fewer children are living on farms, said Barbara Lee, the main researcher for the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety.

The rate of injuries among children living on farms fell from 9.9 per 1,000 youth in 2009 to 8.15 in 2012. However, the rate among children younger than 10 increased sharply from 6.6 to 11.3.

"The data do not provide a clear reason for the increase, Lee said, but most of the children in that age group likely were not working on the farm but were injured because they happened to be in a dangerous area," AP reports. "A breakdown of the causes for the injuries has not been released by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which collected the data." (Read more)

No comments: