Children living in rural areas, on farms, face unique injury risks. Safety initiatives have focused on issues that are largely experienced in urban settings, however, rural environments also pose serious injury risks for children.
With some 115 deaths each year (all ages), agriculture is one of Canada's most dangerous occupations, one governed almost entirely by voluntary workplace standards. Children live in this workplace, one that is often characterized by heavy equipment, huge vehicles, large animals and unpredictable work demands on their parents. National data from the Canadian Agriculture Injury Surveillance Project based at Queen's University shows that children are among the highest risk groups for farm injuries.
The Safe Kids Canada Children's Rural Safety Program's goal is to disseminate important key messages about child development, farm equipment safety and strategies for children's injury prevention to rural families. North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) is a project to help farm families engage their children safely in farming life.
- Recognizes that work is an integral and highly valued part of family farm culture.
- Research showed that farm parents often overestimate what task children can safely handle and that many parents would welcome detailed guidelines from safety and child development specialists.
- Led by the National Farm Medicine Center in Wisconsin, an expert panel from Canada, the United States and Mexico spent several years developing the first set of seven guideline packages.
- Guidelines are not intended to be legislated or otherwise imposed on parents; rather they are intended as an educational tool, a safety resource.
- 62 guidelines in all, organized into seven colourful booklets that have been focus-tested with farm families for reading level and usefulness.
- Cover such areas as animal care, manual labour and haying operations.
- Each package covers:
- Adult responsibilities in assigning children this job
- Can your child do this job? (developmental checklist)
- Illustrations of main hazards
- Supervision levels recommended for different age groups
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Download copies of the following six Guidelines (PDF format):
PDF versions of NAGCAT have been generously provided by Manitoba Department of Labour and Immigration. Distribution rights for the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks in Canada were obtained by The Workplace Safety and Health Division of the Manitoba Department of Labour and Immigration and the Workers Compensation Board of Manitoba.
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If you are unable to download the PDF files of the NAGCAT, complete the order form below to receive printed copies of the Guidelines. Supplies are limited.
Note* If you are a community organization or an individual who works with farm families and are not a Safe Kids Canada partner, please complete the following Registration Form before completing the NAGCAT Order Form to gain access to the above materials.
NAGCAT Resource Manual Supplementary to the Guidelines provides in-depth background information about each of the seven booklets and provides educators with a tool to plan their workshops. The Resource Manual can be printed from www.nagcat.org.
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NAGCAT is available on the Web through the U.S. National Children's Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety at http://nagcat.org.
| Page published on 2006-07-26 |
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