COLUMBUS, Ohio — Federal regulatory changes to the child labor laws for agriculture could mean significant changes in the types of work young people can do on the farm. According to experts in this area, the change is well overdue.

“The Hazardous Occupations Order For Agricultural Employment hasn’t been touched or changed for the past 40 years,” said Dee Jepsen, program leader and assistant professor in The Ohio State University’s Department of Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering.

“What the Hazardous Occupations Order for Agriculture does is prohibit youth under the age of 16 from working in and around certain types of environments, outside two basic exemptions.”

One of the two exemptions in the order historically included allowing children to work on farms owned and operated by their parents.

“The first exemption isn’t expected to change with updated regulations proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor, but the second exemption, however, is slated to undergo a significant change,” Jepsen said.

That second traditional exemption was for children under the age of 16 who completed a prescribed farm safety education and training program.

“The second exemption is more commonly known as the tractor safety certification program,” Jepsen added. “In the past, students were given a 24-hour safety program. Students aged 14 and 15 would take a safety course through their high school or through extension.

“They now propose that students be enrolled in vocational ag program ongoing to their employment. This is a huge change. There once was a written exam and skills test, where the students learned about safety procedures. This certification isn’t necessarily a competency test in operating machinery.”

The proposed regulation would expand the program requirement to 90 hours of study prior to an examination. In addition, the certification program would only be offered by secondary schools, essentially meaning high school agriculture programs.

“The course – basically an entire semester of study – would also deal with more than tractor safety, and would include confined space dangers and other farm-related safety issues,” Jepsen said.

Some of the regulatory changes to the Child Labor Laws for Agriculture include:

•No youth under age 16 shall operate tractors of any size horsepower

•All youth possess a valid drivers license to operate farm machinery on roads

•Restricts driving of all motor and off-road vehicles

•Youth not permitted to work livestock in auctions, feedlots and other yards or corrals

•Restricts youth from working at heights above six feet (formerly it was 20 feet)

•Prohibits use of electronic devices while operating power-driven equipment

“This likely means that farmers would not be able to employ students under 16 to work around hay elevators or in the barn putting up hay if an elevator were used,” Jepsen said.

Jepsen stressed the premise behind the proposed changes is to protect youth from working in dangerous environments. “They’ve expanded to say that students cannot work with any animal husbandry practice like breeding, branding, de-horning or treating sick animals,” Jepsen said. “They aren’t allowed to catch chickens in preparation for market, and they can’t herd animals on horseback.”

For more information about these regulations, contact the OSU Ag Safety Office at 614-292-0677 or email osuagsafety@gmail.com

“Our main objective is to inform the agricultural community about these changes and what is being proposed,” Jepsen said.