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The article argues that child farm injuries are never accidents and that the professional discipline of agricultural safety and health and the agricultural media failed to keep pace with injury prevention or occupational safety groups that have transitioned their terminology term from accident to incident. It traces the historical roots of the problem of accidents and highlights initiatives undertaken by the U.S. National Farm Medicine Center to replace the term accident with an alternate term.

Background: The hazardous nature of the agricultural environment, reflected in the numerous injuries and deaths to children who live, work and play on farms, coupled with the lack of a comprehensive national surveillance system in the United States, highlights the need for making the best use of publicly available youth agricultural injury data. Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe a 3-year collection of youth agricultural injuries using the publicly available injury and fatality data from AgInjuryNews.org and present recommendations for future injury prevention strategies. Methods: Data were obtained from AgInjuryNews.org, a web-based collection of U.S. news reports of agricultural injuries. We analyzed cases from 2015 to 2017 for youth aged 0–17. We classified injuries as occupational and non-occupational related, based on the Farm and Agricultural Injury Classification (FAIC) code. Each case was also coded for source and event using the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS). Results: Of the 348 injury reports reviewed, 51% were fatal, and about one-third of the victims were 6 years old or younger. Most injuries were non-occupational, and the most frequent injury sources were vehicles (includes tractors and all-terrain vehicles) and machinery. Youth operators, extra riders, roadway operations, and unsupervised youth playing near or in a worksite were four key contributing factors associated with vehicle and machinery related injuries. Conclusions: This study reaffirms that youth agricultural-related injuries and fatalities are still a persistent problem in the United States. The hypothesis generating AgInjuryNews system can provide more current data than traditional surveillance datasets as a tool for understanding the sources of youth agricultural injuries, monitoring injury trends, and informing policy efforts and prevention strategies. Future studies should continue to explore and evaluate the comprehensiveness of this system's data and the impact of its dissemination, as well as similar rural health informatics solutions for integration into sustainable interventions that can be customized and delivered domestically and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the last several decades, financial support for agricultural safety and health programs and professionals has primarily been covered by public dollars through federal and state government grant programs and appropriations. This federal and state funding provided a tremendous boost to farm safety and health professionals and program efforts for 30+ years and has provided the foundation and structure for current agricultural safety and health efforts and activities. However, there is reason to question long-term sustainability of a sufficient level of federal and state dollars for agricultural safety and health. Public funding for agricultural safety and health has never quite kept up to inflation, but even more ominous is that the entire agricultural safety and health program has been proposed for elimination each year by the White House budget beginning with the fiscal year 2012. It seems prudent, perhaps even imperative, for the agricultural safety and health community to find alternative support mechanisms. We suggest that now is a great time for agricultural businesses, services, and organizations to step up their financial support. Fortunately, several positive examples have recently surfaced within the agricultural community. As the agricultural industry continues to be a dominant enterprise in the United States, the integration of significant funding and the role of leadership from within the industry must continue to expand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this project was to develop a model policy that agricultural employers could adopt specific to youth employment, including age-appropriate assignments, training needs for adolescent workers, ideal supervision, and mentoring by adult workers. Methods included discussions at a national conference of agricultural employers, a survey of employers’ perspectives on young workers, forming a task force to draft a model policy, and finalizing the policy document. The process resulted in a template that can be used by agricultural employers for immediate adoption, or to be customized and adapted for their unique company. Given new trends in agriculture to use certification systems, safety audits, and voluntary safety standards in addition to the regulatory process, there is value in having a voluntary “best practice” model policy that can be adopted in settings where safeguarding young farm workers is a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. We conducted a comprehensive evaluation of a rural youth health and safety initiative implemented in 4000 National FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) chapters across the United States. Methods. Data were collected from high school students and their FFA advisers at 3 time intervals (preintervention, immediate postintervention, and 1 year postintervention) with a 3-group (standard, enhanced, and control), cluster-randomized, controlled trial design. Results. Matched data from 3081 students and 81 advisers revealed no significant effect of this initiative on agricultural health and safety knowledge, safety attitudes, leadership, self-concept, and self-reported injuries of project participants. Data from 30 public health nurses following the intervention confirmed the program's failure to develop sustainable community partnerships. Conclusions. This nationally coordinated initiative was funded with more than $1 million donated by agribusinesses. Program implementation was inconsistent, and desired outcomes were not achieved. Future efforts should better guide effective use of private sector resources aimed at reducing agricultural disease and injury among rural youths. (Am J Public Health. 2004;94:1743-1749). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem: Injuries are the leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States. Methods: This study longitudinally examined three psychological mediators of injury among 3,081 youths in agricultural settings: (a) safety consciousness, (b) dangerous risk taking, and (c) safety knowledge. These variables are examined within a nomological network of contextual variables. Results: Cross-sectional results revealed that safety consciousness and dangerous risk taking were the strongest predictors of reported injury at Time 1 and Time 2. Safety knowledge had an unexpected negative association with injury, albeit weak. As predicted, participating in safety activities was positively associated with safety consciousness, and time spent working was strongly associated with safety knowledge. Furthermore, self-esteem had both positive and negative safety outcomes, suggesting a more complex functioning. Males exhibited fewer safety cognitions than females as predicted. Longitudinal data also revealed that injury at Time 1 and dangerous risk taking were the strongest predictors of Time 2 injury. Impact on Industry: Results from this study emphasize the importance of assessing dangerous risk-taking perceptions when attempting to predict future injuries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The author reflects on the critical issues faced by the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America (ASHCA) in the U.S. The author states that there is less support for farm safety cooperative expansion programs and higher levels of the U.S. Department of Agriculture administration. The author says that state departments of health, education, agriculture and labor lack support for farm safety and health.

The article presents an evaluation of trends in injuries to youth living on U.S. farms. Kitty Hendricks and colleagues at the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has provided an important contribution to a national initiative on childhood agricultural injury prevention. Their assessment was based on the data obtained from a national sample of farm households and compared it with the data obtained from previous years. In conclusion, their study that a shift has occurred in trends of the type of injuries, gender prevalence and non-work related injuries to children on farms.

An abstract of the article "Characterizing and Promoting "Model" Services for Children of Seasonal Farm Workers" by Amy K. Liebman, Barbara Mainster and Barbara C. Lee is presented.

To reduce the prevalence of youth injuries and fatalities in agricultural settings, safety professionals considered developing a guideline-focused intervention for how and when youth should conduct farm chores. In 1996, the process to create guidelines started, which then expanded to include professionals from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This team used a consensus driven approach to develop the guidelines and launch the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks. By 2015, research related to the published guidelines indicated a need to incorporate new empirical evidence and develop dissemination plans based on new technologies. The process for updating the guidelines was supported by a 16-person steering committee and used content experts and technical advisors. The process yielded updated and new guidelines, now called Agricultural Youth Work Guidelines. This report responds to request for further details on the development and update of the guidelines and describes the genesis of the guidelines as an intervention, the process for creating guidelines, recognition of the need to update guidelines based on research, and the process for updating guidelines to assist in others engaged in similar types of interventions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Swenson, Salzwedel, Peltier and Lee.)

The dissemination of childhood agricultural safety and health information and resources through organizations that farmers trust enhances implementation and the Socio-Ecological Model can help identify these organizations. However, to become effective partners in improving agricultural health and safety, organizations need to build capacity in child agricultural safety and health, thus, more information is needed about these organizations' current practices, needs, and capacity for leadership, policy makers, and knowledge mobilization. An online survey was administered to organization leaders with an interest in child agricultural injury prevention, chosen through agricultural health and safety organization membership lists. Invitations to participate in the online survey were mailed to 95 organization leaders with three weekly reminders, resulting in participation from 50 organization leaders (53% response rate). Respondents indicated a high level of awareness of child agricultural injuries, yet few were actively engaged in injury prevention. When asked about "needs" for building capacity in injury prevention, over half (56%) identified a need for more promotion and dissemination of safety resources and strategies, including ATV safety, no extra riders on equipment, and keeping young children out of the worksite. The only topic that more than half of the organizations (54%) identified as "needing more information" was childhood agricultural injury surveillance. This assessment yielded valuable details for identifying opportunities, priorities, and topics for future collaborations and capacity building. Findings help inform national and international planning committees' work, such as the next iteration of a US National Action Plan for Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention, scheduled for release in 2024., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Salzwedel, Weichelt, Burke and Lee.)

Every three days a child dies in an agriculture-related incident, and every day 45 children are injured in the United States. These tragedies should not be regarded as "accidents," as they often follow predictable and preventable patterns. Prevention is not only possible, but vital, since many of these injuries are almost immediately fatal. Major sources of fatal injuries are machinery, motor vehicles, and drowning. Tractor injuries alone account for one-third of all deaths. The leading sources of nonfatal injuries are structures and surfaces, animals (primarily horses), and vehicles (primarily all-terrain vehicles [ATVs]). Children living on farms are at a higher risk than hired workers, and are unprotected by child labor laws. Preschool children and older male youth are at the highest risk for fatal injury, while nonfatal injury was most common among boys aged 10-15 years. Multiple prevention strategies have been developed, yet economic and cultural barriers often impede their implementation. Educational campaigns alone are often ineffective, and must be coupled with re-engineering of machines and safety devices to reduce fatalities. Legislation has the potential to improve child safety, yet political and economic pressures often prohibit changes in child labor laws and mandated safety requirements. Clinicians play a pivotal role in injury prevention, and should actively address common rural risk-taking behaviors as part of the routine office visit in order to help prevent these tragedies., (Copyright © 2013 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)

The North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) were developed to assist parents in assigning developmentally appropriate and safe farm work to their children aged 7-16 years. Since their release in 1999, a growing body of evidence has accumulated regarding the content and application of these guidelines to populations of working children on farms. The purpose of this paper is to review the scientific and programmatic evidence about the content, efficacy, application, and uptake of NAGCAT and propose key recommendations for the future. The methods for this review included a synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature and programmatic evidence gathered from safety professionals. From the review, it is clear that the NAGCAT tractor guidelines and the manual material handling guidelines need to be updated based upon the latest empirical evidence. While NAGCAT do have the potential to prevent serious injuries to working children in the correct age range (7-16 years), the highest incidence of farm related injuries and fatalities occur to children aged 1-6 years and NAGCAT are unlikely to have any direct effect on this leading injury problem. It is also clear that NAGCAT, as a voluntary educational strategy, is not sufficient by itself to protect children working on farms. Uptake of NAGCAT has been sporadic, despite being geographically widespread and has depended, almost solely, on a few interested and committed professionals. Key recommendations for the future are provided based upon this review.

The objective of this study was to estimate the annual incidence and cost of nonfatal farm youth injury in the United States for the period 2001-2006. The authors used 2001-2006 Childhood Agricultural Injury Survey data to estimate the annual incidence of farm youth nonfatal injury. To estimate the costs for injuries suffered by youth working/living on the farm, the number of injuries was multiplied by published unit costs by body part, nature of injury, and age group. The annual number of nonfatal injuries to youth (ages 0-19) on farms in 2001-2006 was 26,570. The annual cost of nonfatal farm youth injuries was $1 billion (in 2005 dollars), with 26% of costs related to working on the farm and 47% on beef cattle farms. Around 9.3% of the cost was medical costs, 37.2% work and household productivity loss, and 53.5% quality of life loss.