SEPTEMBER is a dangerous month. 

 And here's why. 



As this 30-day period passes into his- 

 tory, nine of you Illinois farm people 

 will have been put out of action every 

 day by serious farm accidents and two 

 of you will have been killed every third 

 day. 



It isn't a pleasant prospect to think 

 that you might be one of the victims. 

 You probably won't be if you are care- 

 ful. It's the fellow who takes chances 

 that winds up as a statistic in the acci- 

 dent records. 



What sort of accidents do you get 

 involved in on the farm in September? 

 Let's take a look at the statistics com- 

 piled by the lAA Safety Department's 

 study of September farm accidents in 

 Illinois as reported in newspapers from 

 1940 through 1943. 



But before we look at the records, 

 we would like to remind you folks with 

 children that you have a double re- 

 sponsibility. You have to be careful 

 yourself and you have to teach your 



BEWARE 



OF 



SEPTEMBER 



By Walter W. Whitlock 



Olr*<ter, lAA Safety Department 



kids to be wary of accidents. 



Why.' Because at least one Illinois 

 farm child is killed or injured every day 

 in September! Once a week a child is 

 killed! It would be silly of me to ask 

 if you want anything like that to hap- 

 pen to your children. Of course you 

 don't! 



ALL INJURIES 



DEATHS 



SEPTEMBER 

 FARM HOME AND WORK ACCIDENTS IN ILLINOIS 



But you will want to keep in mind 

 the principal causes of deaths and acci- 

 dents on the farm in September. First 

 of all farm machinery and livestock 

 take their usual high toll as the most 

 hazardous things on the farm to fool 

 around with. 'Together, they cause five 

 serious accidents daily. 



Half of the 280 machinery accidents 

 during the Septembers, 1940 through 

 1943, were attributed to the tractor. 

 Refueling hazards, falling off, turning 

 over, suffering crank kicks — these are 

 still sources of grievous tractor troubles 

 that can be avoided. 



Remaining machinery mishaps in- 

 volved mowers, spreaders, combines, 

 corn machines and others. 



Among Illinois farm children be- 

 tween the ages of six months and 15 

 years, machinery causes about one-third 

 of all the accidents in September which 

 averages about 35 deaths and accidents. 

 Of the 10 accidents involving machin- 

 ery during a recent 30-day period, 

 three injuries and one death are at- 

 tributed to the tractor. Other machines 

 injuring children were the rotary hoe, 

 spreader, cornsheller, truck, feed grind- 

 er and mower. 



Of all the 280 September accidents 

 with livestock, "Old Dobbin" took 

 more than two-thirds of his share, while 

 Bossy was a worse offender than the 

 highly vaunted male. 



Falls ranged from toppling from 

 farm buildings to falls during work. 

 Barn and hay-mow falls were high. 



The use of hand tools accounted for 

 63 of our total, but encouragingly no 

 deaths. 



Four per cent of the total is caused 

 by falling objects. Farmers still get in 

 the way of falling trees. They still al- 

 low everything from timothy to tractors 

 to fall on them. 



September opens the hunting season 

 on some game - — and with it two per 

 cent of the deaths and injuries from 

 firearms. Watch your newspapers this 

 month — they will carry the usual 

 stories of the "gun that wasn't loaded," 

 the fellow who dragged the gun 

 through the fence behind him, and the 

 hunter who strayed away from the 

 hunting party later to be mistaken for 

 some sort of game. i 



Burns and explosions account for two 

 per cent of accidents in this month, 

 but don't let that lull you into a false 

 sense of security. This same cause ac- 

 counts for 13 per cent on the yearly 

 basis. Right now is the time to get your 

 heating apparatus ready for winter. 



Miscellaneous" covers 87 out of 



{Continued on page 23) 



18 



L A. A. RECORD 



