Childhood farm accidents: a continuing cause for concern

Farms in Ireland remain a dangerous environment for children despite increasing publicity about farming hazards based on international research. A one year prospective study on farm accidents was carried out in four Irish accident and emergency departments. During this time, four deaths and 62 cases of injury aged 15 years and under were seen. Half the cases required admission to hospital; tractor accidents were common and serious. Most injuries occurred to the extremities but 13 (21 per cent) had multiple injuries. Forty-three (69 per cent) of the children required outpatient follow-up and twenty-seven of these (63 per cent) had more than one outpatient re-visit. The Irish farming community is still unappreciative of the risks to their children on the farm, and urgent attention needs to be directed towards educational and legislative measures to improve the safety profile of Irish farms.