This week we celebrate National Farm Safety and Health Week 2020. Many agricultural organizations are doing their best to bring awareness to this week through education and programming. In an effort to help youth in agriculture, the American Farm Bureau has launched a new online youth safety course, Think F.A.S.T. (Farm & Ag Safety Training). The program was developed to help youth aged 14 to 17 think through and learn about avoiding common safety hazards on the farm and ranch.
“Safety on the farm and ranch is vital,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Young people are the future of agriculture and we’re pleased to provide them with tools to help them become grounded in skills that will serve them well throughout their careers.”
Sadly, every three days a child dies and every day 33 children are injured due to agricultural-related incidents in the United States, according to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety
In an effort to reverse those numbers, the program and related materials focus on general safety, leadership, and critical thinking skills applied to technical and agriculture-specific contexts. The training is available at no cost to anyone interested in learning about farm safety (Farm Bureau membership is not required for access).
The program includes 10 modules that each take 10 minutes to complete and follow-up competency quizzes. A curriculum guide for classroom and workshop settings is available for download. There are both online self-paced and in-person direct instruction options for Core Safety Skills and Technical Safety Skills.
Program modules are listed below.
- Attention & Distractions with ATVs and UTVs
- Spatial Awareness with Livestock
- Looking at Situations from Multiple Points of View with Tractors & Machinery
- Task Breakdown and Job Safety with Personal Protective Equipment
- Matching Tasks and Skills with Electrical
- Decision Making for How to Complete a Task with Manual Labor
- Situational Management with Bins, Silos and Pits
- Empowerment and Permission to Say No with Chemicals & Pesticides
- Tough Conversations with Slips, Trips and Falls
- Impact of Injuries with Shop Safety
