Employers and parents were today urged not to allow children into workplaces during the school holidays.
Productivity and Labour Relations Minister Yvonne Henderson said that tragic experience had shown that children were particularly in danger at factories, construction sites and on farms.
"The latest figures from Princess Margaret Hospital's Child Accident Prevention Foundation show that the greatest risks for children can be found around machinery and in collisions and falls," Mrs Henderson said.
"In the year to last September, the hospital treated 188 children for injuries which occurred in workplaces, and the injuries were serious in 25 per cent of these cases.
"The sad incident at Chidley Golf Course at the weekend, where a 12-year-old boy was injured after falling off a lawn aerator, is a case in point."
Mrs Henderson said the more common accidents were:
· falls from farm vehicles, including tractors, farm machinery and motor cycles;
· crushed fingers and hands resulting from insertion into machines in factories;
· cuts and broken bones from tripping over rubble on building sites;
· assorted injuries resulting from falls from heights or slipping while running.
Mrs Henderson said the Occupational Health, Safety and Welfare Act required that employers ensure the health and safety of all persons at a workplace, including visitors.
She said the maximum fine for offences was $50,000 and employers had been convicted in regard to fatal injuries to children at workplaces.
"An average of 30,000 adult Western Australians are injured at work each year," she said.
"Children should not be in hazardous environments where these injuries are occurring.
"Parents and employers should think very carefully about the potential dangers before making any decisions to allow children to visit their workplaces."
