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The authors ask you:
The NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Safety and Health Research grants are an extramural component of the NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative, implemented in FY 1997 by an act of Congress. The goal of the Initiative is to reduce the risk of fatal and non-fatal injuries to children who live on, work on or visit farms. Thirty-two Childhood Agricultural Health and Safety research grants were funded from 1997 to 2006. Almost 40% of the total research grants awarded to-date have been in the area of educational interventions. Over 1/5th of the total research grants which have been awarded targeted minority youth agricultural populations for injury prevention. Evaluations of large-scale national/international educational safety programs for youth have been conducted. Research gaps identified include childcare and play/recreation areas, incentives for adults to protect youth, economic and social consequences of youth working on farms, model programs for youth training and an update on a national research agenda.
In fiscal year 1997, Congress provided funding for NIOSH to implement the Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative. The goal of the Initiative is to reduce the risk of fatal and non-fatal injuries to child who live on, work on or visit farms. NIOSH has applied a triad approach of surveillance, research and information dissemination to achieve this goal. The research component is primarily conducted through an extramural grant program. The NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Safety and Health Research grants are a component of the NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative. The purpose of the presentation is to provide an overview of an on-going research program of the NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative, the Childhood Agricultural Safety and Health Research grants.
Youth deaths on farms during the 1980s averaged more than 100 per year, while nonfatal injuries during this same time period were estimated to occur to as many as 100,000 farm youths per year [NCCAIP 1996, Adekoya and Pratt 2001]. During the early 1990s, national surveillance data maintained by the BLS identified an average of 70 workplace fatalities per year among workers under age 18 [Derstine 1994]. The BLS data showed that the majority of the deaths of youths under age 16 and one-fourth of the deaths of youths aged 16 and 17 were in the agriculture industry. In addition, youths working on farms were suspected of having increased risks for cumulative trauma MSDs. Myers and Hendricks (2001) estimate that in 1998, nearly two million youths under age 20 lived or worked on a farm in the United States (NIOSH, 2007). It is still estimated that about 100 youth die on farms each year (both work-related and non-work-related) and a NIOSH surveillance program estimates the following injuries for youth less than 20 years of age on US farms:
Injuries to Youth less than 20 Years of Age that Occurred on U.S. Farms during 1998, 2001, and 2004 by Gender and Work Status.
| Injuries | 1998 | 2001 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Injuries | 37,774 | 29,207 | 27,590 |
| Male | 29,564 | 16,526 | 14,390 |
| Female | 8,210 | 12,641 | 13,201 |
| Work | 16,695 | 9,481 | 8,130 |
| Nonwork | 18,169 | 19,611 | 19,439 |
Source: NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Surveillance (CAIS)
An analysis of the Census of Fatal Occupational Injury (CFOI) data from 1992 – 2002 indicated there were 310 work-related deaths to youth less than 20 years of age in the agriculture production sector. The fatality rates were higher for young workers in agriculture production than for young workers in all industries by a factor of 3.6, with specific subdivisions of agriculture being much higher. Tractors were the single largest source of these fatalities, accounting for 27.1% (84/310) of all the young worker agriculture production fatalities. The largest event associated with these tractor fatalities were “overturns,” accounting for 57.6% (19/33) of the highway tractor incidents and 62.8% (32/51)of the non-highway incidents, with “overturns” accounting for 61% of all the tractor fatalities for young workers in agriculture production (Hard et al., 2006).
Based on these injury and fatality statistics for the youngest of workers in the industry of agriculture, a national research program was implemented and sustained by NIOSH for identifying and preventing these injuries.
NIOSH has held two public meetings (1997 & 1999) to receive input from stakeholders on the Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative. Additionally, the documents Children and Agriculture: Opportunities for Safety and Health – A National Action Plan and the subsequent document 2001Summit on Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention, were utilized for identifying stakeholders’ priority areas for agricultural youth injury prevention research.
NIOSH-funded research grants under the NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative were reviewed by: 1) topic area(s) addressed by grants funded within the request for proposals (RFP) and 2) identifying research needs and gaps.
Thirty-two Childhood Agricultural Health and Safety research grants were funded in the ten year period from 1997 to 2006. Twelve research grants addressed “Educational Interventions/Evaluations” which accounted for 37.5% of all the grants funded. Seven (21.9%) research grants targeted minority populations, primarily Hispanic/migrant youth (and/or their families). Six (18.7%) of the research grants specifically targeted the North American Guidelines for Children’s Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT), a resource developed to assist parents in assigning farm jobs to their children 7 - 16 years of age, living or working on farms. The NAGCAT was developed by the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety (NCCRAHS), which is another component of the NIOSH Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention Initiative. Two research grants addressed agricultural youth surveillance issues and two research grants evaluated the impact of two different national and international organizational farm safety day camps for children.
Almost 40% of the grants were targeted toward educational interventions for youth. However, analysis indicates that about 22% of the total research grants which have been awarded to-date targeted minority youth agricultural populations for injury prevention. Evaluations of large-scale national/international educational safety programs for youth have been conducted. Research gaps identified include childcare and play/recreation areas, incentives for adults to protect youth, economic and social consequences of youth working on farms, model programs for youth training and an update on a national research agenda.
Continued input from stakeholders and analysis of the data for youth injuries on farms will be utilized to set priorities and direction for future research efforts in this area.
Adekoya N, Pratt SG [2001]. Fatal unintentional farm injuries among persons less than 20 years of age in the United States: Geographic profiles. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2001–131.
Derstine B [1994]. Youth worker at risk of fatal injuries. Paper presented
at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association, October
30, Washington, DC.
Hard DL & Myers JR. 2006. Fatal work-related injuries in the agriculture
production sector among youth in the United States, 1992-2002. J of Agromedicine,
11(2): 57-65.
Myers JR, Hendricks KJ [2001]. Injuries among youth on farms in the United States, 1998. Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2001–154.
NCCAIP [1996]. Children and agriculture: opportunities for safety and health. A national action plan. Marshfield, WI: National Farm Medicine Center.
NIOSH. 2007. National Academies of Science Program Review: Agriculture, Forestry
and Fishing.
Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing NAS Evidence Report. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nas/agforfish/
The findings and conclusions in this poster are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Citations to Web sites external to NIOSH do not constitute NIOSH endorsement of the sponsoring organizations or their programs or products. Furthermore, NIOSH is not responsible for the content of these Web sites.
