February 27, 2008
Farm Safety Days Educate Children about Dangers in Agriculture
LINCOLN, Neb. — On average 20 Nebraskans die each year as a result of agriculture related accidents and injuries. "The tragic thing about these accidents is that all of them are preventable," said Sharry Nielsen, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educator in Kearney/Franklin counties.
Farm safety days organized by national and local sponsors throughout Nebraska reached over 3,400 youth and 1,000 volunteers in 2007, in an attempt to reduce the number of agricultural fatalities and injuries.
Tractor overturns historically have been the greatest cause of agricultural deaths, but in the last three to four years all-terrain vehicles have passed tractors as the most dangerous aspect of agriculture, said Dave Morgan, safety engineer at UNL.
Age plays a large role in how children are injured or killed on farms and ranches. Toddlers are most likely to get run over. Children 5-12 years old are killed most often by falling off equipment when riding along, and as kids reach their teens they start making many of the same mistakes adults do, Morgan said.
Beth Horak, outreach coordinator for the national organization Farm Safety 4 Just Kids, hosts an annual farm safety day in Crete.
Horak lives on a farm near Wilber with her husband and three children and has personal reasons for organizing these events. "I love to work with kids and I can't imagine losing a child in an accident that could have been prevented," Horak said.
A typical farm safety camp consists of a variety of 20-minute sessions that cover safety topics such as; power takeoffs, all terrain vehicles, blind spots, lawnmowers, grain safety, extra riders, animal safety, rural roadway safety and sun safety, which is of particular importance to Horak, who lost her mother to a melanoma a few years ago.
"There is no single formula for organizing the safety days," said Nielsen. Some are set up by a committee of community partners including Nebraska Safety Center, Future Farmers of America, hospitals and agri-businesses. Many partner with national organizations like the Progressive Agriculture Foundation or Farm Safety 4 Just Kids. Local extension offices can direct people interested in organizing a safety day to a local or national sponsor, said Nielsen.
Kerri Ericson organized safety camps in Holdrege with help from the Progressive Agriculture Foundation in 1998-99. Ericson's first experience with the farm safety days came in 1997. After being asked to give a presentation by her local extension office, she developed a farm safety version of Jeopardy to teach children about the dangers associated with agriculture.
Ericson, raised on a dairy in Holdrege, said it is easy to become too relaxed about farm safety when you grow up in agriculture. She believes complacency may be the single greatest factor contributing to farm accidents.
"It is the attitude that no one can get hurt," Ericson said. She also pointed to another reason for getting involved in the safety days. "It was great leadership experience that taught organizational skills, which transcended into other areas." Today, Ericson teaches high school math in Axtell and coaches a youth basketball team.
Horak said it is difficult to know how much of an effect the safety days are having, but she finds it rewarding to hear about children breaking the chain of unsafe practices.
"We've had grandparents tell us how their grandchildren informed them of unsafe practices they have used for years, which the kids learned about in the safety camps," Horak said.
Extension is a division of the university's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
2/27/08-JL David L. Morgan
Biological Systems Engineering Extension Safety Engineer (402) 472-2442
 
Sharry Nielsen
UNL Extension Extension Educator (308) 832-0645
Dan Moser IANR News & Photography Coordinator (402) 472-3007
Department:
Cooperative Extension
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