B.J.
Hansen and D.E.
Baker
NIOSH Education and Information Division
Each
year the number of farm youth fatalities is estimated between
175 - 300 in the United States. The Missouri Youth Safety
and Health Resource Notebook is designed to help prevent these
accidents. Community organizers and project staff work together
to set up innovative safety and health programs - targeting
the needs of local residents. The objective is to increase
youth awareness of safety and health hazards associated with
farm, home and recreational activities, to reduce injuries.
The no ebook provides safety and health facts on 13 rural
and urban concerns. Topics are: Fire, Electrical, Tractor/PTO,
Grain Suffocation, Large Animal, Small Animal, Home Chemicals,
Agricultural Chemicals, Lawn and Garden, ATV, Bicycle, Water,
and First on the Scene. Each section has activity ideas and
who to contact for more information.
The
handbook walks users through the steps of planning, presenting
and evaluating their safety and health activities. It can
be used to organize day camps, in-school workshops, or safety
and health fairs. The camps feature day-long training and
hands-on activities, such as how to bandage a cut and why
you should avoid grain bins and wagons.
School
programming is very successful because schools provide chaperons,
food and transportation. Between October, 1993, and May, 1994,
project staff conducted seven programs in six rural schools
and one urban community with a total attendance of more than
1,300 people. Staff met with principals, extension staff and
community organizers to plan these programs. The committee
selected the topics and the programs were ready within a month.
School administrators were very responsive to the program
because they were individualized to their needs and free.
Results
from pre- and post-test evaluations showed gains in all areas
discussed. The pre-test was given the day before the program
and the post-test was completed the day after, comparing right
and wrong answers. Results were tabulated by classroom and
measured an 80% net gain. Teachers will continue observing
student behavior to evaluate the gain. The comparisons of
gain in knowledge from each topic, in general, showed there
was greater gain where hands-on activities or role playing
were used
The
teachers' responses were very positive and one teacher commented,
"I think this was a very successful workshop. I don't think
children can ever be overeducated in safety precautions."
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.
B.J.
Hansen and D.E. Baker, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO.
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