Prevention is key for avoiding tragic accidents
Kids Safety Tips

Children living on farms are at a greater risk of injury and death, perhaps not surprising, given the heavy machinery, large animals and numerous vehicles that are part of the farm environment. In fact, about 20 children die each year as the result of farm-specific injuries, most often related to being run over by tractors.

"At one time people thought that perhaps the delay in getting medical treatment was a factor in these deaths," says Pamela Fuselli, spokesperson for Safe Kids Canada. "But research has found that quicker trauma care wouldn't have made a difference in the majority of the cases. The children's injuries were simply too severe for them to survive."

That means prevention is the real key, according to the Ontario Children's Rural Safety Program. Farm families can follow two major guidelines to make their work with tractors significantly safer:

No extra riders Many of the children injured or killed when a tractor ran them over started out on top of the tractor, hitching a ride with a parent or family member. Giving kids tractor-rides is almost a tradition, but too many children have fallen off the tractor and under the wheels with no time for the driver to stop. Tractors are oneperson vehicles and it's simply not safe to give children rides.

Keep kids and tractors

separate

Other children are run over when they walk or run into the path of the tractor, either because they were distracted during play, were trying to get the driver's attention, or didn't realize the tractor was moving in their direction. Young children need constant supervision and safe, secure play areas away from where the tractor is being used. They also should not be permitted to play on tractors, even when they're turned off, but always remove the keys and chock the wheels just in case.

"A 75-pound child doesn't have much chance against a 10,000-pound tractor," says Fuselli. More information is available online at www.safekidscanada.ca and www.farmsafety.ca.

- News Canada