M.A.
Adams and S.K.
Burgus
NIOSH Education and Information Division
Community
programs in agricultural safety and health have been most
effective when key leaders are identified locally to organize
and facilitate activities and are provided with relevant and
reliable resources. Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, a national non-profit
organization based in Earlham, Iowa, has been working with
the Center for Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education
and Prevention at the University of Iowa and other NIOSH centers
to address these very issues.
Farm
Safety 4 Just Kids has developed a chapter structure to involve
these key leaders and community members. Currently 41 chapters
of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids have been developed in sixteen
states and two Canadian provinces. Chapters provide an effective,
two-way network that allows the dissemination of educational
resources while gathering issues of concern at the grassroots
level pertaining to childhood injury and death on the farm.
This system allows efficient utilization of resources developed by a variety of agencies as well as those identified,
developed or adapted by local chapters themselves.
Local
chapters identify the health and safety needs and resources
in their local communities and plan activities and educational
programs to address farm safety issues relevant to the area.
Activities include: day camps, awareness walks, walkathons,
displays, exhibits, booths, contests, school programs, etc.
Agricultural
safety and health agencies, such as NIOSH-Sponsored Centers
for Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education and
Prevention can benefit from association with these chapters
by utilizing the distribution network and obtaining grassroot
input to validate other research efforts. They can, in turn,
assist chapters by developing, reviewing and adapting resources
that are responsive to specific agricultural systems and educational
needs of the state and/or region.
Through
formal and informal training, identification of key personnel
and exchange of resources, many organizations working together
within a chapter can provide a vehicle for enabling local
communities to plan and conduct programs utilizing technically
accurate and culturally appropriate materials and methods.
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
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention and
Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State University
and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by the Centers
for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health.
The
authors noted above are from: M.A. Adams and S.K. Burgus,
Farm Safety 4 Just Kids.
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