Full text of DOI:10.1111/j.1467-842X.2001.tb00585.x

Premature Death
Farm-related fatalities involving
children in Australia, 1989-92
Rebecca J. Mitchell
Abstract
Injury Prevention and Policy Unit, NSW Health, New South Wales
Objective: To describe the types of and
circumstances surrounding unintentional
farm-related fatal injuries involving children
aged less than 15 years in Australia.
Methods: Information concerning 115
deaths were obtained from inspection of
coronial files for the period 1989-92.
Richard C. Franklin
Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, Department of Public Health
and Community Medicine, University of Sydney, New South Wales
Timothy R. Driscoll
Results: Children less than 15 years made
up 20% of all unintentional farm-related
fatalities in Australia, with children less than
5 years representing 63% of all child
fatalities. The majority of children were
fatally injured while bystanders to farm
work and equipment used on the farm
(including dams), with drowning the most
common mechanism of the fatal incident for
children aged both 5 years or less and 5-9
years. Vehicle accidents were common for
children aged 10-14 years.
National Occupational Health and Safety Commission
Lyn J. Fragar
Australian Centre for Agricultural Health and Safety, Department of Public Health
and Community Medicine, University of Sydney, New South Wales
n Australia, workers employed in the
During 1982-84, there were 67 work-
agricultural industry had the fifth high- related deaths of children aged less than 15
est fatality rate (20.6 per 100,000 work- years identified from coronial records in
I
ers per year) during 1989-92 after the for- Australia. Of these, more than half (36,
estry and logging (97.2), fishing (95.7), 53.7%) occurred on a farm.3
Conclusions: Children are exposed to
various hazards in the farming environment
and as such are at risk of being injured.
Implications: This study has highlighted a
number of particular hazards for children on
farms, with drowning, transport and tractor-
related injuries of particular concern. A
national strategy for child safety on farms
has been developed by Farmsafe Australia
aimed at providing a nationally co-ordinated
plan for improving child safety on farms.
(Aust N Z J Public Health 2001; 25: 307-14)
mining (36.4) and transport and storage
Various investigations in some Australian
(23.0) industries.1 Workers are exposed to States have attempted to gauge the preva-
many hazards on a farm, including physi- lence and circumstances surrounding child
cal, chemical, mechanical and biological deaths in rural areas. The Child Death
agents.2 In agriculture, unlike most other ReviewTeam (CDRT) reported 12 deaths of
industries, partners and children of workers children aged less than 18 years on farms
who live on the farm and share the workplace and rural properties in New South Wales
have the potential to be exposed to the same during the 1998/99 financial year.6 In
hazards as workers.
Queensland, there were 41 deaths of chil-
Children who live on a farm are especially dren aged less than 15 years on farms
at risk of injury. Young children often reported during 1990-98.7 In Victoria, 10
accompany their parents while they are per- children aged less than 15 years were fatally
forming work on the farm and older chil- injured on a farm during 1992-95.8 During
dren often participate in farm work. Types 1991-96, there were 12 deaths of young chil-
of tasks that are performed by children on dren aged less than 15 years in South Aus-
the farm include caring for and feeding ani- tralia identified from coronial records.9
mals, riding on motorcycles, driving or rid-
Despite information obtained at a State or
ing on tractors and operating other types of Territory level, which varies in quality and
farm machinery. Children face unique risks coverage, no detailed, comprehensive infor-
on farms for a number of reasons, including mation has existed on a national level regard-
their small size, lack of physical strength and ing all farm-related fatal injuries of children
relative inexperience.3-5
in Australia.
Correspondence to:
Submitted: September 2000
Revision requested: May 2001
Accepted: June 2001
Rebecca J. Mitchell, Injury Prevention and Policy Unit, NSW Health, LMB 961, North Sydney
NSW 2059, Australia. Fax: (02) 9391 9579; e-mail: rmitc@doh.health.nsw.gov.au
2001 VOL. 25 NO. 4
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Mitchell et al.
Article
This paper describes all farm-related deaths of children aged
less than 15 years that occurred during 1989-92 in Australia.
information was then coded directly into a computer database.
In the overall study, there were 1,787 workers who were fatally
injured in the course of their work. An additional 626 were either
commuting to or from work at the time of the fatal incident.There
were 802 bystanders to work who were fatally injured.There were
72 incidents where a person was fatally injured on a farm, but not
in connection with work activity or equipment.
Methods
All farm-related fatalities (excluding suicide) were studied as
part of a larger study of work-related traumatic fatalities in Aus-
tralia for the period 1989-92.10
Farm enterprise coding was performed using the Australian
Standard Industrial Classification.13 Farm agent and location of
fatal incident on farm was coded using the Farm Injury Optimal
Dataset.14
Information regarding farm-related fatalities comes from the
second of two studies of agricultural-related fatalities. The first
of these studies, conducted in the late 1980s, covered the period
1982-84 inclusive.11 The second study covered the period 1989-
92.12 The study method for the second study is described else-
where in detail12 and is outlined here.
All non-suicide fatal incidents that occurred on a farm, or away
from a farm but in the course of agriculture work, were included
in this study.The inclusion criteria for fatally injured persons were
as follows:
Nearly all traumatic deaths in Australia are investigated by a
coroner. However, work and farm-related deaths are not easy to
identify because the coronial offices in each jurisdiction in Aus-
tralia do not have consistent coding systems to identify work-
and/or farm-related deaths. To determine if a death was work- or
farm-related, it was necessary to obtain a list of all external cause
deaths and then use this list as the starting point for identification
of any work- or farm-related deaths.
Workers – persons who were receiving pay, profit or payment in
kind, including unpaid work in a family business or on a farm,
for the services that they were performing at the time at which
the fatal incident occurred, or which led to them being fatally
injured.
Bystanders – persons who were not working but who were
fatally injured as a result of farm workplace activities or from
equipment which was present on the farm to perform work
functions. Examples included children drowning in a farm dam
and visitors run over by a tractor.
A list was obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS) of all deaths that occurred in the study period and which
had been assigned International Classification of Diseases, Revi-
sion 9 (ICD9) codes corresponding to External Causes of Death,
excluding suicide. The persons on this list were identified only
by a death registration number and the coronial records were iden-
tified only by a name. Therefore, this registration number was
matched to a name using the computerised National Deaths In-
dex of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)
(for all non-Northern Territory deaths) and the Northern Terri-
tory Death Registry records. Names were identified for 99.9% of
the deaths on the list from the ABS.
Other farm persons – persons who were fatally injured on a
farm, but not in connection with work activity or equipment.
An example would be people riding horses for recreation.
Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences.15
Results
Each year, fatalities involving young children continue to com-
prise a large proportion of Australian farm deaths. Of the 587
unintentional fatalities on farms between 1989 and 1992, 115
(19.6%) were children aged less than 15 years. This was an aver-
age of 29 farm-related deaths per year for children.
Coronial files were found for 99.7% of the 20,042 relevant
coronial files. Other sources of information, such as occupational
health and safety (OHS) or compensation agency information,
death certificate information, police reports and newspaper
reports, were found for 16 of the remaining 68 (23.5%) persons
for whom coronial files could not be located.
The majority of children were bystanders to farm work (89,
77.4%) or fatally injured in other farm fatalities (17, 14.8%). Only
nine (7.8%) children were considered to have been working at
the time of the fatal incident.
Research officers examined the files and assessed which of the
deaths met the study definitions of work-relatedness or if the
fatal incident was farm-related. If the death was assessed as defi-
nitely or probably work- or farm-related, relevant parts of the
coronial file were identified and photocopied. The photocopied
Gender and age
Overall, males (87, 75.7%) were more commonly fatally
Table 1: Number of fatalities per year by age group and gender, children 0-14 years, farm-related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
Year
0-4 years
Female
5-9 years
Female
10-14 years
Total
%
Male
Male
Male
Female
1989
1990
1991
1992
Total
13
15
11
9
6
4
4
6
–
–
1
–
1
4
1
1
1
1
–
3
28
27
24.3
23.5
7
9
5
34
29.6
7
5
5
26
22.6
48
24
24
15
115
100.0
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Premature Death
Farm-related fatalities involving children
Table 2: State orTerritory of incident, children 0-14 years,
farm-related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
Table 3: Farm enterprise, children 0-14 years, farm-
related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
State or Territory
Total
%
Farm enterprise
Total
%
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
30
1
26.1
0.9
Agriculture
113
2
98.3
1.7
Poultry
29
5
25.2
4.3
Grapes
2
1.7
Plantation fruit
3
2.6
3
2.6
Orchard and other fruit
8
7.0
Victoria
34
13
115
29.6
11.3
100.0
Vegetables including potatoes
3
2.6
Western Australia
Total
Cereal grains, sheep, cattle, pigs
17
2
14.8
1.7
Cereal grains
Sheep, cereal grains
2
1.7
Sheep, meat cattle
5
4.3
injured than females (28, 24.3%) (see Table 1). Children aged
one year or less represented 22.6% and children less than five
years old represented 62.6% of all child farm-related fatalities.
Sheep
9
7.8
Meat cattle
13
13
2
11.3
11.3
1.7
Dairy
Pigs
State orTerritory of fatal incident
Cotton
1
0.9
Agriculture NECa
3
2.6
Victoria (34, 29.6%), New South Wales (30, 26.1%) and
Queensland (29, 25.2%) had higher numbers of fatalities of chil-
dren than the remaining States and the Northern Territory (see
Table 2).
Agriculture enterprise type not known
29
2
25.2
1.7
Other
Total
115
100.0
Note:
(a) NEC: Not elsewhere classified.
Farm enterprise
The type of farm enterprise where the fatal incident occurred
could be identified in 86 (74.8%) incidents. The most common
enterprises were cereal grains, sheep, cattle and pigs (17, 14.8%),
meat cattle (13, 11.3%), dairy (13, 11.3%), sheep (9, 7.8%) and
orchard and other fruit (8, 7.0%) (see Table 3).
were dams, water reservoirs and irrigation channels (40, 34.8%),
roads and lanes (17, 14.8%), paddocks under crop (11, 9.6%)
and farm yards or gardens (10, 8.7%) (see Table 4).
Agent and mechanism of fatal incident
Location of fatal incident
The most common location where children were fatally injured
The agent most commonly involved in child fatalities on farms
was a dam (33, 28.7%). Other common agents were tractors
Table 4: Location on farm by age group, children 0-14 years, farm-related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
Location on farm
0-4 years
5-9 years
10-14 years
Total
%
Paddock under crop
Paddock clear for grazing
Natural vegetation
Stockyards including horse yards
Roads, lanes
6
4
2
4
3
1
11
9
9.6
7.8
–
2
4
6
5.2
2
1
1
4
3.5
6
6
5
17
40
3
14.8
34.8
2.6
Dam, water reservoir, irrigation channel
35
1
4
1
River, creek
1
1
Shed, farm building NECa
Dairy
3
2
1
6
5.2
1
–
–
1
0.9
Disposal pit
–
1
–
1
0.9
Farm excluding residence NECa
3
–
1
4
3.5
Farm residence
–
1
–
1
0.9
Farm yard or garden
Shearers’ quarters
Grain handling facilities
Total
10
1
–
–
10
1
8.7
–
–
0.9
–
1
–
1
0.9
72
25
18
115
100.0
Note:
(a) NEC: Not elsewhere classified.
2001 VOL. 25 NO. 4
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Mitchell et al.
Article
(11, 9.6%) and utilities (8, 7.0%). Of the 33 fatalities where a
dam was involved, 30 (90.9%) were of children under the age of
five years (see Table 5).
(1, 2.4%) and in a cattle dip trough (1, 2.4%). Other common
mechanisms for children less than five years of age included be-
ing hit by moving objects (such as a tractor or a trailer) (18, 25.0%),
being hit by falling objects (such as a tank or a tree being felled)
(3, 4.2%) and vehicle accidents (involving cars or utilities) (3,
4.2%).
Drowning (42, 58.3%) was the most common mechanism of
the fatal incident for children less than five years of age. Drown-
ing fatalities for this young age group most commonly occurred
in dams (30, 71.4%), but also in tanks (5, 11.9%), irrigation chan-
nels (3, 7.1%), creeks or rivers (2, 4.8%), in a swimming pool
Drowning (5, 20.0%) was also the most common mechanism
of the fatal incident for children between five and nine years of
Table 5: Agent of fatal incident by age group, children 0-14 years, farm-related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
Agent of fatal incident
0-4 years
5-9 years
10-14 years
Total
%
Farm vehicles
Truck
2
4
1
1
–
2
2
–
1
–
7
–
3
3
8
1.7
7.0
1.7
5.2
4.3
1.7
3.5
0.9
27.0
Utility
Car
2
–
2
Trailer
4
–
6
Motorcycle 2 wheel
Motorcycle 3 wheel
Motorcycle 4 wheel
Bicycle
–
3
5
–
2
2
–
3
4
–
1
1
Total farm vehicles
12
12
31
Mobile farm machinery and plant
Tractor
7
1
1
–
–
2
–
–
1
–
–
3
2
–
–
–
1
–
3
11
1
9.6
0.9
Linkage
Tillage seeder
Grain auger
Slasher
1
0.9
1
0.9
1
0.9
Other mobile farm machinery and plant NECa
2
2
1.7
Total mobile farm machinery and plant
11
17
14.8
Other equipment and materials
Gun, rifle, shotgun
–
–
1
1
–
–
1
1
0.9
0.9
Total other equipment and materials
Farm structures
Farm structure
Swimming pool
Tank
1
1
–
–
–
1
3
2
–
1
2
9
–
–
–
–
–
1
–
–
–
1
1
1
0.9
0.9
7
7
6.1
Fence
–
1
0.9
Dam
30
2
33
5
28.7
4.3
Creek, river
Irrigation channel
3
3
2.6
Silo grain
–
1
0.9
Other farm structure NECa
Total farm structures
–
2
1.7
44
54
47.0
Animals
Horse
1
1
2
3
–
3
1
–
1
5
1
6
4.3
0.9
5.2
Snake
Total animals
Farm hazardous substances
Pesticides
1
1
2
–
–
–
–
–
–
1
1
2
0.9
0.9
1.7
Fuel
Total farm hazardous substances
Working environment
Trees being felled
Other working environment NECa
1
–
1
1
1
2
–
1
1
2
2
4
1.7
1.7
3.5
Total working environment
Total
72
25
18
115
100.0
Note:
(a) NEC: Not elsewhere classified.
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Premature Death
Farm-related fatalities involving children
Table 7: Activity at time of fatal incident, children 0-14
years, farm-related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
age. Other common mechanisms for this age group were vehicle
accidents (involving motorbikes and trailers) (4, 16.0%), falls from
a height (3, 12.0%) and being hit by moving objects (such as
vehicles or tractors) (3, 12%).
Activity at time of fatal incident
Total
%
Transport for work purposes
Transport for recreation
Transport NECa
Maintenance
2
16
3
1.7
13.9
2.6
Vehicle accidents (involving utilities and motorbikes) (8, 44.4%)
were the most common mechanism of the fatal incident for chil-
dren aged 10 to 14 years (see Table 6).
1
0.9
Hunting
1
0.9
Activity at time of fatal incident
Working with animals
Working with crops
Monitoring, observing, inspecting
Moving goods
2
1.7
The most common activities being performed at the time of the
fatal incident were recreation or playing (84, 73.0%) and trans-
port for recreation (16, 13.9%) (see Table 7).
2
1.7
1
0.9
1
0.9
Recreation or playing
Other
84
2
73.0
1.7
Pathophysiological cause of death and blood
alcohol content
Total
115
100.0
The most common pathophysiological causes of death were
drowning (49, 42.6%) and head injuries (41, 35.7%). Of the 49
children who drowned, 42 (85.7%) were of children under the
age of five years. Of the 43 fatalities of children between five and
14 years, 21 (48.8%) were due to head injuries (see Table 8).
Blood alcohol tests were conducted for one-quarter (29, 25.2%)
of the children. Where blood alcohol tests were conducted, the re-
sults revealed that all except one of the children had a nil blood
alcohol reading. This child had a blood alcohol reading of between
0.001 g/100mL and 0.05 g/100mL after ingesting kerosene.
Note:
(a) NEC: Not elsewhere classified.
The majority of children (102, 90.3%) were fatally injured be-
tween the hours of 9am and 6pm (see Figure 1). The time of the
fatal incident for two children was not known.
Visitor to the farm
Of the 115 children who were fatally injured on a farm, the
majority were residents of the farm (75, 65.2%). Thirty-five
(30.4%) were visitors to the farm. In five cases (4.3%) it was not
known whether the child was a visitor to the farm or not.
Month, day and time of fatal incident
The months with the highest number of fatalities were January
(16, 13.9%), September (13, 11.3%), June (12, 10.4%), October
(10, 8.7%) and December (10, 8.7%).
Discussion
As a daily average, there were more fatal incidents involving
children on the weekend than during the week.
Children less than 15 years of age made up 20% of all farm-
related fatalities in Australia during 1989-92. The majority of
children who were fatally injured were bystanders, but there were
Table 6: Mechanism of fatal incident, children 0-14 years,
farm-related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
Table 8: Pathophysiological cause of death, children 0-14
years, farm-related fatalities, Australia, 1989-92.
Mechanism of fatal incident
Total
%
Falls from a height
6
2
5.2
Pathophysiological cause of death
Total
%
Hitting stationary objects
Being hit by falling objects
Being bitten by an animal
Being hit by an animal
Being trapped by moving machinery
Being trapped between stationary and moving objects
Being hit by moving objects
Contact with flames or heat
Contact with electricity
Drowning
1.7
5.2
6
Head injuries
41
5
35.7
4.3
1
0.9
Chest injuries
3
2.6
Trunk injuries
1
0.9
2
1.7
Abdominal injuries
Multiple injuries to head and other body parts
Multiple injuries – other
Drowning
4
3.5
2
1.7
2
1.7
23
1
20.0
0.9
4
3.5
49
1
42.6
0.9
1
0.9
Crush asphyxia
48
2
41.7
2.6
Electrocution
1
0.9
Single contact with chemical or substance
Shot by firearm
Inhalation of a chemical substance
Suffocation
1
0.9
1
0.9
2
1.7
Slide or cave-in
1
0.9
Chemical substance ingestion
Envenomation
2
1.7
Vehicle accident
15
1
13.0
0.9
1
0.9
Rollover
Medical complications
Total
1
0.9
Total
115
100.0
115
100.0
2001 VOL. 25 NO. 4
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Mitchell et al.
Article
Figure 1:Time of
Frequency
18
incident, children 0-14
years, farm-related
fatalities, Australia,
1989-92.
Children < 15 years
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
2400
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
2200
Time of Day
nine children who were performing work tasks at the time of the
fatal incident.
identifying animal-related farm enterprises compared with other
farm enterprise types may also be a factor in the predominance of
reporting injuries associated with agricultural enterprises that have
livestock.24
In comparison, a prior study of farm-related fatal injury in
Australia for the period 1982-84 found that 13% of fatalities were
children aged less than 15 years and almost three-quarters of those
fatally injured were bystanders to farm work.11 However, Erlich
and colleagues11 did not include drowning deaths in their investi-
gation, which this study identified as one of the main causes of
death of children on farms. As a result, it is likely that the Erlich
et al.11 figure is an under-representation of the proportion of farm-
related child deaths during 1982-84.
The type of fatal incident varied with age, with fatal incidents
involving mechanical equipment and vehicles making up a larger
proportion of the incidents in which older children were fatally
injured. Drowning and being hit by moving objects, such as a
tractor, were the most common mechanisms of death for children
aged less than five years. Based on these results, it seems sensi-
ble that drowning, transport and tractor-related injuries be prior-
ity areas for prevention. Farm vehicle and machinery (including
tractors) incidents were also common agents involved in farm-
related fatalities of children in California and Canada18,25 and in
non-fatal incidents involving children in Ireland.23 Similarly,
Cameron et al.16 found that farm children in England were com-
monly exposed to hazardous machinery (especially tractors).
In the United States, the most common mechanisms of fatal
injury involving children less than 5 years and 5-9 years were
machinery-related incidents and drownings. Children aged 10-
14 years were also likely to be fatally injured in machinery-
related incidents, but unlike the younger children, in this age group
firearms and explosives were the second most common agent in-
volved in the fatal incident.4
In the UK, children account for a similar proportion of those
fatally injured on farms to the current study, with 25% of those
fatally injured being aged 16 years or less.16 In Canada, 10% of
those fatally injured in work-related farm incidents were aged
less than 14 years17 and in the United States 6-10% of farm-re-
lated fatalities were of children.18
Overall, a larger proportion of the fatally injured persons less
than 15 years were males (75.7%) than females (24.3%). This
pattern has also been observed in other investigations of both
fatal and non-fatal farm-related injuries of young children.3,4,17-22
Agricultural enterprise type has been reported in only a few
studies of fatal and non-fatal injury involving children. In the
current study, cereal grains, sheep, cattle and pigs; meat cattle;
and dairy were the three most common types of farm enterprises
in Australia that could be identified where the fatal incident
occurred. In Ireland, an investigation of 62 non-fatal farm-related
injuries involving children found that half the children were in-
jured on dairy farms, one-third on mixed farms and approximately
one-fifth on crop or livestock farms.23 A study of farm-related
injuries in Ontario found that for children younger than 10 years,
both beef and dairy cattle farms were associated with a higher
risk of injury.22 This is probably due to the greater number of
these types of establishments, rather than actual risk. The ease of
An investigation of fatal farm-related injuries in Wisconsin and
Indiana found that just over half (53.6%) the young children
fatally injured were injured in runover incidents. In older chil-
dren, aged 6-11 years, runovers (36.9%) were also a common
mechanism of fatal injury, along with rollovers (15.6%).19
Dams, water reservoirs and irrigation channels were by far the
most common location of the fatal incident for young children,
especially those aged less than five years. Similarly, dams were a
common location involved in deaths on Queensland farms of chil-
dren aged less than five years during 1990-98.7
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Premature Death
Farm-related fatalities involving children
Dams present a unique hazard onAustralian farms, as they need
to be accessible by animals and as a result are also accessible to
young children. The Australian Water Safety Council26 has iden-
tified children drowning in rural areas, particularly in dams, as a
priority area. Although drowning has been identified by other
studies as an area of concern, children often fall outside the
parameters of work-related studies as they are not part of the work
force.27-29
and barriers for child care for rural families in Australia continue
to be explored, along with child care issues particular to these
families, such as the ability to cater for small numbers of chil-
dren, fluctuating demand for care due to agricultural work and
transport issues.35
Strategies for preventing injury to young children, such as
safe play areas on the farm, establishing guidelines for children’s
and adolescents’ work in agriculture and restricting access to
farm machinery, have been considered in detail in several publi-
cations.3-5,16,20-22,31
FarmsafeAustralia34 has developed a national strategy for child
safety on farms aimed at the prevention of child and adolescent
deaths on farms. Examples of particular activities include ‘Giddy
Goanna’, a character that tries to teach children about the hazards
on farms and how to avoid them and specific material regarding
farm safety has been developed for schools in the RIPPER
project.36
In the current study, children were commonly fatally injured as
bystanders to farm work and were likely to be involved in recrea-
tion or playing activities. Similarly, Nordstrom et al.,30 in a study
of agricultural injuries involving bystanders, using medical cen-
tre data in Wisconsin, found that the activities bystanders were
performing at the time of the fatal incident were either playing or
observing.
Ferguson,7 in an analysis of work-related deaths on Queens-
land farms, identified ‘at risk’ activities for different age groups
of children. Proximity to water or a vessel containing liquid was
identified as an at-risk activity for children five years and less.
For children aged 10 years or less proximity to machinery and for
children 15 years or less recreational riding were identified as
risky activities for these age groups.
Information obtained from coronial records regarding fatal
injuries in Australia is generally more detailed and comprehen-
sive than data from other sources. However, several areas where
additional information would have been of assistance included
the type of farm where the incident occurred, the distance from
the homestead of the fatal incident, and further detail surround-
ing the circumstances of the incident.
There was some variation in the month that the fatal incident
occurred. It is not known why this variation occurred. However,
the month of January, which had the highest number of incidents
involving children, is summer school holiday time in Australia.
Cameron et al.16 found that there was a slight increase in the
number of fatalities during the summer school holidays and when
the farms were busiest.
Accurate denominator data regarding the number of children
living on farms is not currently available in Australia and thus
fatality rates could not be calculated.
This is the first in-depth, comprehensive study of all uninten-
tional fatalities of children on farms that has been conducted in
Australia. Further studies of fatalities in Australia will be able to
utilise the National Coronial Information System, which is designed
to allow prompt access to coronial data, thus assisting in the moni-
toring and subsequent prevention of farm-related fatalities.
More deaths per day of children occurred on a Saturday or Sun-
day than during a week day. In contrast, workers of all ages
fatally injured in farm-related incidents in Australia were more
likely to be fatally injured during the week than on weekends.12
Ninety per cent of children on farms were fatally injured be-
tween 9am and 6pm. This is similar to a prior study of work-
related deaths of children in Australia, where three-quarters of
child deaths occurred between 10am and 6pm.3
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