Two farm safety advocates say they hope recent programs aimed at
children will change future statistics on deaths and injuries among
farm kids.
Merle Mailin, a disabled farmer from Gainsborough, Sask., says the
presentations he does in schools “definitely brings a lot more
awareness to young people of the dangers that are out there.”
Cathy Vanstone of Manitoba Agriculture says for pre-school children,
“there are only two interventions that work.” One is a fenced-off play
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area on the farm and the other is more accessible and flexible child
care, said Vanstone, chair of the Canadian Coalition for Agricultural
Safety and Rural Health.
The two were responding to the latest study by the Canadian
Agricultural Inquiry Surveillance Program. It showed that between 1990
and 2000, 10 pre-school children were killed each year on Canadian
farms, much higher than the accident rate for all Canadian children of
that age.
Vanstone said, “kids are kids. Things can happen quickly.” That is why
it is important they play in an area that is separated from the work
area on the farm. Also, with many farm partners working full or part
time, including grandma, there is no one to babysit the children. They
end up being taken to the barn or on the machinery as a parent does the
chores.
A new federally funded program is looking at creating a network among
communities in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to share information about
rural child care, said Vanstone. The two-year program intends to hold a
conference in October to gather initial information. Its website is
ruralvoices.cimnet.ca.
However, most of the programs that are funded are aimed at school-age
children who tend to be protected from injury because they are away
from the farm during many work periods. Vanstone said the surveillance
study shows fewer fatalities from age seven to 14. Then the numbers
shoot up again for the older teenagers.
Mailin has done presentations for all age groups from kindergarten to
Grade 12. He said the group he especially wants to talk to are those in
Grades 6-8, who are doing farm chores.
“You must get the message across that if they have difficulties, talk
to their parents about it. They may wonder why their friend Johnny can
do a chore and they can’t, but Johnny weighs 50 pounds more and is two
inches higher.”
Growth spurts are common in this age group and may affect a youth’s
ability to do farm work, said Mailin. He also does not believe in
giving the children a list of do’s and don’ts. He prefers practical,
hands-on advice.
He also said he teaches children to be patient and attentive to tasks.
He gets that message across by demonstrating the care and time it takes
him to transfer from his house wheelchair to an outside one.
