LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. -- The number of farm-related deaths in Lancaster County is higher than average in Pennsylvania.
The county has many small farms with family labor, which can lead to death, especially among children.
Six farm-related deaths occurred last year, and this year two have already occurred - both being children.
Lancaster County Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni said, "Certainly the equipment utilized in the farms is inherently dangerous and because often times families live on the farms that they work, it's not unusual to have children in fairly close proximity to dangerous farm equipment."
Wednesday a 3-year-old boy was hit by a tractor in Ephrata.
Nationwide Insurance Professor of Agricultural Safety and Health and Extension Safety Specialist Dennis Murphy said Lancaster County has some smaller farms with older equipment, which can be more hazardous to children.
And they may run toward machines that are moving.
Diamantoni said, " We oftentimes see children because they're a little more reckless and don't fully appreciate the dangers associated with the equipment that they're close to."
Many times deaths occur on Plain farms because parents may try to watch their children while running the farm, and the effect on the family is devastating.
Diamantoni said, "They're very painful for families to deal with because as all parents they love their children so much, and to have them pass away in such a traumatic and tragic way it's very difficult for the families."
It is also hard for the District Attorney to prosecute anyone for these tragedies.
Brett Hambright, a spokesperson for the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office, said, "In many of these cases, as the coroner mentioned, they are tragic accidents. so an accident doesn't equal criminal conduct."
The most recent prosecution was in 2006.
Many times the person who killed the child was a relative or parent of that child.
"It's difficult for us. We have to weigh emotion, we have to look at the law and look past the emotion and do the right thing by the law," Hambright said.
Diamantoni said he and other physicians at Lancaster General Health want to get together to discuss how they can decrease farm-related deaths in Lancaster County.
Murphy also said he would like to provide more farm safety education to farmers.