Keeping children safe on the farm focus for conference

A national conference on farm safety this week in Charlottetown focused on how to keep children safe in the country's most dangerous workplace.

• A call for legislation to protect children on farms

Researchers at the conference said 33 children are injured in agricultural accidents every day in North America and one dies about every three days.

Casper Bendixsen, who works with the National Farm Medicine Center in the U.S., told the conference, farm machinery has made agriculture more dangerous for kids. But there is also evidence children can receive great benefits from farm life.

"On one end of the spectrum farms are wonderful places to raise children, and on the other end of the spectrum it is the most dangerous worksite in the country," said Bendixsen.

"So we try to figure out where in a child's development can they start taking on farm jobs and behave safely in a work area."

Bendixsen says tractor ridealongs, tractor rollovers, and drownings pose the biggest risks to children.

But his research shows farm kids have better relationships with nature and that gives them more mental clarity and less anxiety.

He also says farm kids have better a work ethic, tighter bonds with their families, and have fewer allergies.

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