Agricultural tasks and injuries among Kentucky farm children: results of the Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project.

BACKGROUND

This population-based study reports the prevalent agricultural tasks and the 1-year cumulative incidence of injuries in a sample of 999 children < or = 18 years old living on family farms in Kentucky.

METHODS

Data were collected in 1994 to 1995 for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project. A random sample of farm children in 60 Kentucky counties was selected using a cross-sectional, two-stage cluster design. Respondents, primarily mothers, completed a 30-minute telephone interview about work-related tasks and injuries experienced by their children while working on the farm.

RESULTS

Participation in chores related to tobacco and beef cattle production was common for children aged 5 to 18 years. In a 1-year period, 29 children were injured while performing farm work, yielding a crude rate of 2.8 per 100 children (95% confidence interval, 1.7-3.8). Boys aged 16 to 18 years had the highest injury rate (9.2 per 100 children). Farm machinery, cattle and horses, falls from heights, and contact with inanimate objects were the primary external causes of nonfatal farm work injuries.

CONCLUSION

Rates of farm work injuries among adolescent boys may be higher than previously reported for Kentucky and other states. Injury prevention interventions targeted to chores related to tobacco and beef cattle production are particularly relevant for this population of young workers.