New York State child agricultural injuries: how often is maturity a potential contributing factor?
BACKGROUND
Children living or working on New York farms face unique hazards and experience on-farm injuries related to these. The New York Community Partners for Healthy Farming (CPHF) surveillance provided a unique source of information for analyses of risk factors-particularly age-for these events.


METHODS
Agricultural injuries recorded by the state's agricultural nurse surveillance (CPHF) program over a 6-year period were analyzed. Injuries were classified by type, severity, and possible contributing factors, including whether the age of the victim was below the "job appropriate age limits" designated by the investigators using materials from the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT).


RESULTS
Of the 164 recorded injuries to persons aged 1-18 years, 29 were fatalities, 18 were disabling, and 55% occurred while working. Leading injury types were tractor run-over (12) and overturns (11). Of those injured while working, 35% were under the "job appropriate age limits." Tasks of loading hay (square bales) (100%, 3), fieldwork with trailed implements (100%, 3), and feeding calves (100%, 2) most frequently involved very young victims. Grouped by injury source, injuries involving non-powered wagons had the highest frequency of under-age victims (82%, 9).


CONCLUSIONS
The frequency of problems with job appropriate ages suggests that some children on NY farms may be developmentally inappropriate for the tasks to which they are being assigned. The NAGCAT Guidelines are a needed tool for child agricultural injury prevention in New York.
Mason
Christine
C
New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, Northeast Center for Agricultural and Occupational Health, One Atwell Road, Cooperstown, New York 13326, USA. cmason@nycamh.com
Earle-Richardson
Giulia
G
D000059:Accidents / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000383:Agriculture; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population