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Keeping Kids Safe on the Farm

>>AMY SUSAN: Hi, I'm Amy Susan, Communications Director for the Missouri Department of Labor. Many Missouri kids grow up on the farm and they're exposed to many of the same risks and hazards that other farmers are exposed to which is why we're joined here with Kathryn Coon, a Farm Safety for Just Kids. And I understand that nationally around eighty kids unfortunately lose their lives due to a farm-related accident.

>>KATHRYN COON: Yes.

>>AMY: Tell us a little bit about how you all are trying to improve and decrease those numbers.

>>KATHRYN: We're, we're trying to reach out. Give kids more information. Educate them. Tell them the ways that-we need to be careful; things we need to watch out for, and we're just trying to get one more kid at a time and every kid that we can reach out to is, it's just one more and that we can reduce the number of accidents so.

>>AMY: Do you see children or youth exposed to the same type of hazards that say an older farmer would be exposed to?

>>KATHRYN: Yes. Yes you do. A lot of times we have kids that go out and they, they want to just see what's on the farm and it's, it's great, and we just, we just need to be careful and watch out, but a lot of times they will get into the same equipment that a farmer does. Like, they could be around a PTO occasionally and just, just things like that. You will see the same accidents. Sometimes they're more or less extreme depending on how the kid was exposed to it, but yes, you see the same sorts of accidents.

>>AMY: And what kind of responses are you getting from kids when you talk to them about safety?

>>KATHRYN: A lot of times it's, it's, it's interest and parents come over here and we talk about chemical safety and the kids start playing with the board and seeing if they can recognize the chemical with the (UI) or just see what the actual safe one is. And a lot of times it's just we don't recognize these. We need to be careful and aware of this and hey, if you're babysitting little kids, you have younger brothers, you need to be aware of this so that you can protect them. And it's just, it's a lot of stuff like that so.

>>AMY: And how about the response from the parents?

>>KATHRYN: The response from parents is very positive. They really like having kids listening to these presentations and it's, it's sometimes it's things that they don't think about and so we're just one more educational thing that to try and help parents reach every topic that they can because I mean, there's a lot to cover so it's, it's great to have every, everything you can get a hold of to reach out to the kids.

>>AMY: Well thank you Kathryn for joining us. And if you all have any other questions, comments, or concerns, or want to learn more about farm safety, visit www.labor.mo.gov. And here's a list of our partners in safety.