Unlike most other industries, in farming, the workplace is also usually the home. Adults frequently work with their children nearby and that can increase the risk of children getting injured.
“Farm life can put families in situations that are uncommon to the average household,” says Greg Stewart, president and CEO of Farm Credit Canada (FCC). “As a result, learning to recognize hazards and practising farm safety is essential, especially with young children around.”
Each year in Canada an average of 115 people are killed and another 1,500 are hospitalized due to farm-related incidents. A study done by the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting (CAIR) program found that between 1990 and 2005, there were 217 children aged 14 or younger killed on Canadian farms. An alarming number of them, 99, were five or under.
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For children aged 14 and under, machine runovers were the predominant cause of death (42 per cent), followed by drownings (15 per cent), machine rollovers (11 per cent), animal-related injuries (seven per cent), and being caught in or under a non-machine object (five per cent). For this age group, the first three causes, (machine runovers, drownings and machine rollovers), were associated with two-thirds of all child deaths.
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“Farmlifecanputfamiliesinsituationsthatareuncommontotheaveragehousehold.”
GREG STEWART
PRESIDENT, CEO FARM CREDIT CANADA
