Several deaths of children in Pennsylvania have drawn attention to the issue of safety on farms. In March 2001, a three-year old boy was run over by a front-end loader being driven by his father. Anticipated charges against his father for the incident include child endangerment, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

This accident occurred only one month after the deaths of two young children in separate farming incidents in nearby areas. On April 25, a 2-year-old boy was run over by a plowing disc. That same day, another 2-year-old boy was killed after falling from a horse-drawn wagon that his 6-year-old brother was driving.

The National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health reported that in 1999, 104 children died in farming accidents. The majority of these deaths were related to farming machinery. Farming has been classified by the National Department of Labor as a dangerous activity. As such, children who have not yet reached their sixteenth birthday are not allowed to operate equipment on farms other than their family's farm. The problem is that the majority of farms also serve as families' residences and young children are, therefore, in close proximity to dangerous machinery and equipment on a daily basis.

An estimate based on the 50,000 farms that reported to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in 1998, established that almost 33,000 incidents involved teen-agers and young children sustaining injuries that incapacitated them for four hours or more. It was also estimated that children 10 years of age and younger accounted for 40% of the injuries.