John
Shutske
University of Minnesota Extension Service
Farms
are great places for children to play and work. But they can
also be places where kids are injured or even killed.
Research
shows that children are much more likely than adults to be
injured working on the farm. In Minnesota alone, over 80 children
were killed in farming accidents in the past ten years. That's
eight kids a year, or nearly one child a month!
How
can farm kids learn to stay safe and healthy? One way is through
a safety day camp, a program that teaches 8- to 13-year-olds
the basics of farm safety and health.
If you're
concerned about the safety of farm kids in your community,
this pamphlet will outline how you can organize and run a
safety day camp. You'll learn:
- why
childhood injuries are so common, and how they can be prevented;
-
what jobs kids shouldn't be taughtand why;
-
how to design a safety day camp that is entertaining and
educational; and
-
where to go for more information and advice.
Eight
Minnesota kids die each
year in farm accidents.
Nearly
300 American children are killed in farming accidents each
year. Thousands more are injured and maimed. Why are these
childhood injuries so common?
One
reason is that children on the farm are often expected to
do work that they're not mature enough to handle. A 10-year-old
may look big and strong enough to run machinery or handle
a large animal. But if the tractor tips, or the steer acts
up, the child won't have the experience or the skill to stay
safe. We'd never expect a 10-year-old to drive a car safely,
yet many pre-teens drive the family combine, just because
they're big enough to reach the clutch and brake pedals.
A kid
who looks big is still a kid, and deserves all the protection
that loving adults can provide. One big part of that protection
is keeping kids from doing jobs they're simply not mature
enough to handle.
The
simple answer is no. Safety and child development experts
strongly recommend that children be at least 12 or 13 before
they begin to learn how to operate machines. Federal and state
laws back this up by making it illegal to hire children under
16 to operate tractors or to perform other hazardous jobs
off the family farm. This age requirement may be higher in
some states.
But
children can be taught to recognize and avoid hazards common
to most farmsteads. Through safety day camps, kids can learn
good safety habits that will stick with them once they're
old enough to operate machines and drive the tractor.
Children
who learn safety habits
early become safer farmers.
At a
safety day camp, a child learns about common farm hazards,
and how to avoid them. Safety day camps are just like other
summer camps, except that kids learn about things like electrical
safety or basic first aid, instead of basket-weaving or outdoor
cooking. Like other camps, the emphasis is on hands-on, interactive
learning that is fun for the child (and for the instructor!)
The
safety day camp format works best for 8- to 13 year-olds,
who are generally eager to learn new ideas if they are presented
in a challenging and entertaining way. (In many states, older
youth may be eligible for "Hazardous Occupation"
training, which certifies teens 14 and older to operate tractors
and machinery. Contact your local vocational agriculture instructor
or county extension agent for more information about this
training.)
Many
people in your community
can help teach in day camps.
Organizing
and running a farm safety day camp in your community is a
big job, but it can be accomplished if it's broken down into
steps. Allow at least three months to schedule and plan the
day camp.
Most
successful programs begin with a planning group or committee.
Don't try to organize a safety day camp alone; there are other
people in your community who can help you. Your first step
is to invite them to an initial planning meeting. When considering
who to include, don't forget someone from your local:
- county extension office
- vocational agriculture program
- public or county health department
- machinery or chemical dealership
- fire department
- emergency medical service
|
- farm credit office
- electrical cooperative
- grain elevator
- ATV, lawn equipment or snowmobile dealership
- farm organization
- 4-H or FFA youth leaders
|
When
should your safety day camp be held? If it is scheduled during
periods of heavy farm work, you may lose kids whose parents
are too busy to drive them into town. Consider weather-related
conditions when scheduling the camp as well.
How
should camp be set up? Many safety day camps consist of several
"work stations," which use demonstrations, displays,
role-playing and other concrete teaching methods and materials.
These techniques keep kids interested and engaged far longer
than a series of lectures or slide shows. For best results,
each station's activities should last between 15 and 45 minutes,
and involve no more than 15 kids at a time.
Work
stations must have a clear purpose, or learning objective.
Learning objectives describe specific actions that students
should be capable of performing once they've visited a station.
For example, after visiting a work station on proper fire
extinguisher use, kids should be able to demonstrate how to
use a dry chemical fire extinguisher on a small liquid fuel
fire. By deciding in advance on a learning objective for each
work station you set up, you'll make sure kids are learning
practical, useful information.
Work
stations should
allow for hands-on learning.
The
chart below shows a list of sample work stations with appropriate
learning objectives and ideas for demonstrations. You may
want to design others to suit your community's needs. Be sure,
too, to schedule plenty of free time for kids to relax and
play between work stations.
There
are literally hundreds of possibilities for interesting and
educational work stations. Before you design a new station,
however, ask yourself:
-
will this teach safe or healthy behavior?
- is
the method I'm using geared to kids in the right age group?
-
will this encourage kids to experiment with unsafe behavior?
This
last question is especially important. Having children operate
equipment, even under careful supervision, may send them a
message that it's okay for them to run the tractor at home.
Make sure you're not teaching children one thing, and showing
them another.
Work
Station Subject |
Learning
Objective |
Teaching
Method |
grain entrapment/suffocation |
explain the dangers
of flowing grain in gravity flow wagons and grain bins |
demonstration
with model grain container and action figure |
all
terrain vehicle safety |
demonstrate
use of appropriate protective clothing and proper ATV
fit |
practice trying
on helmets, gloves and goggles; measure riders for fit
on actual ATVs |
power
takeoff entanglement |
describe
dangers of unguarded pto shafts and recommend proper
shielding |
demonstration
with dummy and uncovered pto |
farm hazards |
identify
10 common hazards on the farm
|
scavenger
hunt on real farm or model |
electrical
safety |
describe
5 situations on the farm which could lead to electrocution
or shock |
demonstration
with model (check with local electrical co-op) |
emergency
response/911 |
demonstrate
dialing 911 or emergency number, and giving directions
to accident site |
role
playing with actual or mock emergency dispatch service |
basic first aid |
deliver first
aid to control bleeding and apply bandages
|
practice
bandaging different types of wounds |
chemical
protective gear |
recommend
appropriate protective clothing for adults using pesticides |
hand out pesticide
labels and choose correct protective gear |
tractor
overturn |
list
common tractor rollover factors, including speed and
slope |
demonstration
with radio-controlled toy tractor on ramp |
A day
camp can use up a tremendous amount of time, money and energy.
You'll do best if your planning group breaks up into subcommittees.
Have one group handle fund-raising, another scout locations,
a third plan the content, and a fourth arrange for speakers
and demonstrators. You'll also want people to publicize the
day camp, handle registration and help with set-up and clean-up.
Finally, you'll need someone to look back on the camp's activities
and evaluate them. Make sure someone is specifically responsible
for each of the tasks you identify. Set a deadline for the
completion of each task. Most important, recognize and reward
each volunteer's efforts.
The
purpose of a farm safety day camp is to instill notions of
health and safety in farm kids and to change their safety
habits. How will you know if your camp has succeeded in its
mission?
At this
point, there is no research information that clearly says
day camps work. We do know, however, that similar training
efforts, such as youth training for ATV safety, have made
teens better at identifying hazards and recognizing how to
avoid them. If you spend the time to evaluate your day camp,
you'll discover ways to improve your efforts next year, and
you'll be adding to our understanding of how kids learn safety
habits.
How
can your safety day camp be evaluated? One good way is to
give kids a survey to fill out while their parents are registering
them and signing consent forms. In the survey, ask kids whether
or not they actually do the things you'll be trying to teach
them. Make the survey anonymous, so kids won't feel pressured
to give you the "right" answer. A few weeks after
day camp, call participants back and ask them if they've had
a chance to demonstrate any of the things they've learned.
There
are lots of people and organizations to turn to for help in
organizing a safety day camp. Among them:
John Shutske
Extension Safety Specialist
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108
(612) 624-7444
Marilyn
Adams
Farm Safety 4 Just Kids
P.O. Box 458
Earlham, Iowa 50072
(515) 758-2827
Information
on the World Wide Web: Farm Safety & Health Information Clearinghouse
at http://safety.cfans.umn.edu/
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
Copyright © 1997 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.
Produced by the Educational Development System, University
of Minnesota Extension Service.
In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,
this material is available in alternative formats upon request.
Please contact your Minnesota county extension office or,
outside of Minnesota, contact the Distribution Center at
(612) 625-8173.
The University of Minnesota Extension Service is committed
to the policy that all persons shall have equal access to
its programs, facilities, and employment without regard
to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age,
marital status, disability, public assistance status, veteran
status, or sexual orientation.
University of Minnesota Extension Service Home Page
|