By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — Springfield hasn’t been the same since the death of Austin Pitstick. Memories of this well-loved 4-H member were seen everywhere at this year’s Clark County Fair.

The 11 year-old was killed after being pinned underneath a tractor tire after it overturned on his grandparents’ farm on July 11. Pitstick was a member of the Little Rascals 4-H Club and was recently appointed state fair delegate for his ATV project. Neighbors, friends, 4-H and FFA members have established a memorial fund to honor Pitstick and his family.

Last fall, two brothers were electrocuted in a farm accident in Wayne, Ohio. Craig and Doug Meier were harvesting grain when their equipment came into contact with overhead power lines.
And earlier this spring a teenage girl on a farm near Cleveland lost an arm to a piece of farm machinery after her sleeve was caught by the arm of a tractor’s power take-off (PTO). She was preparing an industrial insecticide sprayer to treat the farm’s crop of grapes when the PTO grabbed the sleeve of her t-shirt and severed her arm at the shoulder.

Surprisingly, Ohio has no law on minimum age to operate farm equipment.

Studies have shown that at least 300 children die each year because of injuries on the farm. An additional 23,500 are injured on the farm. Many of these injuries are permanently disabling. Research has shown that children of all ages are involved in farm accidents.

According to The National Safety Council, injuries in farming range from cuts and scrapes to total disabilities and fatalities. Most traumatic injuries occur during interactions with machinery, especially tractors. Injuries also result from poor building design, electric power, livestock handling and weather conditions. The activities that victims were most often performing when injured are machinery maintenance, fieldwork and caring for animals.
Tractor accidents, the council reports, are identified as the leading cause of deaths and disabling injuries on farms. Tractors are the most frequent cause (one-third to one-half) of injury for fatal farm accidents, but account for a much smaller percentage (5-10 percent) of nonfatal accidents.

Results from the National Ag Safety Database (NASD) show that injuries to toddlers and preschoolers (age 5 and under) tend to occur when playing on the farm or when riding on farm equipment. Those in this age group can climb, walk and run, have a very short memory and like to test reality, learning by trial and error. Preschoolers have a fascination with moving parts – PTOs, belts, moving corn in an auger.

Preventative measures for this age group include: never having a child as an extra rider, keeping ladders out of reach, keeping chemicals locked in storage and keeping a fenced play area away from farming activities.

Injuries to school age children (ages 6-11) occur at both work and play. According to the NASD, this age group likes to explore and be creative. Parental attention and praise are important.

School-age children generally try to complete any assigned task to please their parents, even though the task may not be appropriate for them. They do not feel they can tell their parents, “No,” even if the child knows the task is beyond their capability. This attitude results in many accidents.

Safety measures for this age group include: evaluating a child’s physical and mental maturity for a given task; keeping proper protective devices on equipment; and setting aside time to discuss farm dangers.

Many adolescents (ages 12-16) participate in farm labor.
Therefore, their injuries are commonly work-related. This age group is greatly influenced by peer pressure. Adolescents do not like to look like failures; they want to impress others and tend to believe they are immortal. Many risky behaviors, intended to impress, result in accidents.

Age should not be used as the sole measure of maturity. Some other variables that distinguish individual adolescents are judgment and body size. This age group, the council warns, has the most tractor rollovers, amputations from power PTOs, suffocation in grain bins and accidents involving motor vehicles.

For this age group the NASD recommends: evaluating the child’s physical and mental maturity for a given task, teaching them to use personal protective equipment; having them complete the necessary safety courses for operating farm machinery; and the adult being a good role model.