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Over time, little has been done to change the way farming is done. Most farmers have the view that injury and death comes with the lifestyle and that public safety is a decision that should be decided by each farmer and not forced by the law. Despite government safety laws attributed to the decline of death rates on the job in high-risk occupations like mining, construction, and other industries, agriculture continues to resist safety rules and remains a high fatality related occupation.
The federal government spends little to address safety changes in farming and spends as much as 200 times more per miner than it does per farmer. Safety laws are not a priority to farmers that accept that rural life includes dangerous accidents and death. The high-risk aspect of farming is considered more of a rural lifestyle and culture than an occupational hazard.
For researchers, this classification is frustrating because safety measurers that could mean saving lives are resisted. A government funded research study shows there is not a single occupational hazard that comes even close to the dangers of tractor use. Tractor accidents took the lives of 1,894 farmers, which amounts to 37% of all those who died on the job between 1992 and 2000.
In response to a 1989 report that sparked national concern over the high death rate amongst farm kids, Congress held a hearing to address it. Lawmakers appropriated funds to further study the topic, though most of the resources were given to public health professionals under the direction of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health instead of extension agents, trade groups, and arm machinery dealers that normally handle the safety.
Research continued because of the high death rate believed to occur among farm children, but as more information was uncovered it was discovered the largest number of fatal accidents were for farmers 75 and older. This older group had at least 10 times the chance of being involved in a fatal accident than for the ages 20 and under. There are other risks that were not even accounted into this high-risk older group, including the long-term effects of farming like cancer and lung diseases from exposure to chemicals and toxins.