By JANE HOUIN
Ohio Correspondent DUBLIN, Ohio — Though farm children enjoy many benefits and opportunities by growing up on a farm, they face many dangers as well. And those dangers are faced not only by those living on farms, but also those working and visiting farms and other rural environments.
But taking appropriate precautions can help ensure the safety of children in these environments. Making adults aware of those precautions is the goal of the Farm Safety and Health Workshop on Aug. 31 in Dublin, Ohio.
Risks such as tractor overturns, chemical burns, falls from heights and animal bites may be considered occupational hazards to a farmer. However, these same hazards can happen to children that live on the same farm. Farm-related injuries can be prevented.
At the Children’s Close-to-Home Care Center, the workshop will take place from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Participants will learn how farm residents, both children and adults, are injured and ways to make sure those injuries don’t happen on their own operations and to their own families.
Themes for the day will include identifying what the dangers are, learning the consequences of injuries, discovering how to prevent injury, and determining ways to teach others. Each person can make a difference in the life of a child.
Morning sessions will focus on agricultural injuries and fatalities as well as the overall scope of farm safety and health problems in rural areas.
In the afternoon, concurrent sessions will focus on tractors, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), animals and livestock, chemicals and pesticides, grain safety, rural road safety, cultural populations including Amish and Hispanic populations, PTO simulations, children’s tractor pulls and seat belt usage.
A Pep Talk Panel will also feature representatives from organizations such as FFA, The Ohio State University Extension, the National Organizations for Youth Safety, and Farm Safety 4 Just Kids.
Shari Burgus, education director for Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, will also talk about Making Farm Safety and Health Come Alive, which will include information on where to start and what to do if asked to give a presentation on farm safety and health. The session will address program delivery as well as financial, emotional and physical losses.
Everyone in attendance will take home at least one safety/health item or resource. Lodging is available at Drury Inn at 6170 Parkcenter in Dublin, ask for the Children’s Hospital rate. This workshop is sponsored by Farm Safety 4 Just Kids and funded by USDA Risk Management Agency.
Registration for this workshop is free, and lunch will be provided. There will be travel incentives for those registering and attending. More information will be given at the workshop. Register by calling 1-800-423-5437.
The Children’s Close-to-Home Care Center is located at 5675 Venture Drive in Dublin.
The mission of Farm Safety 4 Just Kids is to promote a safe farm environment to prevent health hazards, injuries and fatalities to children and youth, and was founded in 1987 by Marilyn Adams after losing her son the previous year when he suffocated in a gravity flow wagon of shelled corn.
With the help of many volunteers and sponsors, Farm Safety 4 Just Kids has grown from a one-woman campaign to an internationally recognized organization with more than 100 chapters and more than 3,000 members working to protect the future of farming and preserve a way of life in rural North America.
For more details, visit www.fs4jk.org This farm news was published in the Aug. 29, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
