AJPH: Agricultural Child Labor Laws-Injury Impact

The study, "Changing the Child Labor Laws for Agriculture: Impact on Injury," published in the February American Journal of Public Health, found that 76% of fatally injured agricultural workers younger than 16 years were working in a family business that was exempt from child labor laws. Every year, more children are fatally injured in agricultural jobs than in any other work environment. Child labor laws designed to protect young children from unsafe and unhealthy work environments are ineffective due to exemptions on family owned farms.

Below are some of the findings of the study:

-86% of injured children were younger than 16 years
-3% of children injured were designated as non-family hired workers
-leading causes of injury resulted from tractors, farm machinery, falls from structures, and livestock
-33% of children working on a family farm were engaged in jobs prohibited by the Hazardous Occupations Orders if the exemption were lifted
-Hypothetically, if the Hazardous Occupations Orders were implemented and enforced on family farms, 34% of work injuries to children could be prevented.

If changes were to be implemented and enforced, it would lead to reductions in injury rates that meet or exceed national health objectives recommended in the Healthy People 2010 initiative. The study urges policy-oriented approaches as the method for enacting change but cites opposition from agricultural organizations as a signifigant barrier.

To read the study, click here -must have subscription to the American Journal of Public Health