This equipment is often more powerful and complex, requiring the full time and attention of equipment operators. Farm and ranch children are often exposed to hazards associated with farm work. Children may be endangered as innocent bystanders or as passengers on farm tractors or equipment. Farmers and ranchers face a variety of hazardous environmental factors. In their attempt to remain profitable, farmers and ranchers must often overcome environmental conditions such as droughts, steep and unforgiving slopes, and dangerous facility atmospheric conditions.
Farmers are at increased exposure for motor vehicle accidents.
Farm machinery is often involved in highway accidents involving other vehicles. Drivers have difficulty anticipating the operational intentions of farm machinery being driven on rural highways. Farmers and ranchers are often uninten- tionally exposed to hazards. Farms and ranches in the United States are essentially unregulated small businesses. Safety and health standards for many businesses are not enforced on family farms because of special exemptions provided to agriculture.