Children vulnerable to work hazards on farms

A third of children who die in workplaces in New Zealand are killed in farm accidents, University of Otago research shows.

Children under 15 died in 87 work-related fatalities in New Zealand between 1985 and 1998, the research report said.

Most of the children were bystanders (86 per cent).

Many were a passenger in or on a vehicle (37 per cent) or were playing (34 per cent).

The high number of bystander deaths suggested hazard control was lacking in some workplaces, the report said.

On farms, home and work activities tended to overlap. Rural areas also lacked childcare, so rural parents were perhaps more likely to take a child to work when the other partner was away.

The difficulty in constantly supervising children while doing farm duties could explain why young children were particularly vulnerable to work-related hazards on farms, the report said.

Vehicles were the most common cause of accidents.

Children younger than 5 were more likely to be hit by moving vehicles and children aged 5 to 14 more likely to be a passenger in or on a vehicle.

Drowning was another relatively common way for children under 9 to die.

The statistics showed greater attention was needed to managing hazards and children's activities in workplaces, particularly on farms and when vehicles were in use.

The research had been prompted by the need for comprehensive and reliable data on children's work-related fatal injuries, the report said.

The project was conducted by academics at the university's New Zealand Environmental and Occupational Health Research Centre and Injury Prevention Research Unit with a senior analyst from SafeKids in Auckland.

- NZPA