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Youth safety on farms the top priority at national symposium

 

 

By DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Shaping training programs for youth who work in agricultural operations by developing a sustainable and accessible national clearinghouse for agricultural safety and health curriculum for them – that was the objective when ag safety professionals with The Ohio State University met with ag industry professionals in Louisville last month.

Spearheading the effort of the National Youth Farm and Ranch Safety Symposium was Dr. Dee Jepsen, state agricultural safety leader at OSU. "When it comes to Ohio, I’ve worked with ag leaders on the subject of youth and farm safety," she said. "We needed a national movement that addresses awareness, access and use of farm and ranch safety materials by youth and adults to teach or work with youth. It was vital to convene stakeholders and discuss how we can work together to benefit youth with workforce safety resources."

The symposium was a direct result of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) efforts in 2011 to propose changes to the youth labor requirements for agricultural employment.

"I’ve had efforts on a national level before, but this project has been in the works for years," Jepsen said. "Each state’s safety officials understand issues and what’s going on within their own state. This national effort is one trying to bring those topics together so we can move forward as a group. We invited many of the organizations and agencies that spoke out against the rule changes in 2011."

According to Jepsen, the number of fatalities of children on farms in the 1990s was much higher than today, but much work still needs to be done. "We’re trying to reconvene to see what issues they had concerns with," Jepsen said. "In a sense, we were trying to bring ‘the gorilla’ into the room and let the gorilla talk, rather than let the gorilla sit in a corner and stew.

"Our attempt was to bring our issues out and see what’s holding us back from moving forward together, and to see each others’ side of an issue. We needed to discuss some critical issues. We need these issues to the forefront. There are many groups out there that feel children have no voice in these issues."

At the forefront of discussion was age of working children on a farm, how parents and employers determine when youth are ready to work in agriculture, if age is the best indicator for farm chores, whether such work can be performed by children and what measurements or indicators should be used in determining if a child should be permitted to perform such farm tasks.

The symposium was the outcome of a project funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Jepsen said. The project, SAY: Safety in Agriculture for Youth, is a joint project between OSU and Penn State University. "This website will serve educators, employers and parents looking for specific safety and health resources," said Dennis Murphy, who leads the Agricultural Safety and Health Program at Penn State. "The clearinghouse will also allow educational authors to submit their curriculum, especially those teaching materials that meet agriculture, food and natural resources standards as set by the National Council for Agricultural Education."

Speakers included representatives from the DOL, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, NIFA, National Children’s Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, National Council for Agricultural Education, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Council of Agricultural Employers, Migrant Clinicians Network, American Assoc. for Agricultural Education, Farm Safety For Just Kids and Progressive Agriculture Foundation.

"This gathering of stakeholders started the conversations about how teens can be safely involved in agriculture," Jepsen said. "There is no secret that young workers are highly involved in America’s farms and ranches. The topic for discussion is how to maintain their safety while they learn this responsibility and develop occupational skills."

She said discussions during the symposium included the history of regulating youth for agricultural employment as well as the milestones of coalition work over decades on this topic. The result of the symposium is a new national clearinghouse of educational resources for teaching agricultural safety to young workers.

It is available online at www.extension.org/pages/70004/safety-in-agriculture-for-youth

1/28/2015