New Agritourism Child Safety Guidelines Booklet Now Available

by Jim Carrabba (published 4/1/2007 in Country Folks Grower)

Agritourism can cover a wide range of enterprises including, but not limited to, corn mazes, pick your own fruit and vegetable crops, educational tours for school children, farm based festivals, farm stands, farm animal petting zoos, and many more activities. Agritourism includes any attraction where the general public is invited to the farm, ranch or any other agricultural, horticultural or agribusiness operation for the purpose of enjoyment, education or active involvement in farm activities. Many agricultural operations have turned to agritourism as full-time or alternative enterprise to help boost income and to educate the general public about how their food is produced. Many other farms may find themselves hosting one-time events such as an open barn day or a tour for schools or other youth groups. Visiting a farm can be an exciting and educational experience for children. When children come to your agritourism operation they are ready to learn and have fun and may perceive the farm as a big playground. Many of these young visitors may not be aware of the dangers present. The childhood agricultural injury statistics bear this out. In 2001 there were more than 26,000 injuries to children who lived, worked or visited a farm operation. Also, more than 100 children die of agricultural injuries on U.S. farms every year. Remember, when operating an agritourism enterprise, you are inviting the general public into an environment that contains numerous health and safety hazards. People unfamiliar with farming may not be aware of hazards that you consider obvious.

To make visits to farms safe for children, The National Children’s Center for Rural Agricultural Health and Safety which is part of the National Farm Medicine Center in Madison, Wisconsin has developed a set of health and safety guidelines for agritourism operations. These guidelines are available in a new 37 page booklet entitled “Agritourism: Health and Safety Guidelines for Children”. The recommendations in the booklet were developed to give farm owners information they can use to reduce the risk of illness and injury to children visiting their farm, while at the same time providing an enjoyable and educational experience. The guidelines were written specifically for owners of family farms who may operate an agritourism operation in addition to regular farming activities, as well as for farmers who may host a one-time event such as a school tour or open farm day. The guidelines are also appropriate for larger, long-term agritourism attractions.

The guidelines are broken down into units which cover things such as child development and safety strategies, liability, employee, volunteer and family training, pre-event health and safety recommendations, health and safety recommendations during events, health and safety guidelines for specific attractions, and post-event health and safety recommendations. It is recommended that owners of agritourism operations take the key concepts and recommendations from the guidelines to evaluate health and safety hazards on their farm. Owners are encouraged to develop a checklist to document hazards and list actions to reduce the risk of illness or injuries from occurring. A sample inspection checklist is included in the guidelines.

The agritourism health and safety guidelines booklet is a great resource for agritourism farms. It can give you a lot of useful ideas in making your operation safe for your visitors. The guideline booklet is available at no cost from The National Children’s Center for Rural Agricultural Health and Safety. To order a copy, give them a call at 1-800-662-6900. You can also download a copy from their website. The web address is: http://www.marshfieldclinic.org/agritourism

NYCAMH is available to help you with your safety programming efforts. NYCAMH has a grant from the New York State Department of Labor Hazard Abatement Board that allows us to conduct farm safety surveys at no cost. If you would like for us to conduct a safety survey for your agritourism operation just give us a call. All findings of the survey are kept strictly confidential. If you would like to schedule an on-farm safety survey or an on-farm safety training session, contact me at 800-343-7527, ext 239 or e-mail me at jcarrabba@nycamh.com. NYCAMH, a program of Bassett Healthcare, is enhancing agricultural and rural health by preventing and treating occupational injury and illness.