Level 2

Farm Safety

In Alberta, there are an average of 3 deaths among children and youth that happen each year as a result of injuries on the farm.¹

In rural Alberta, it is common for children to live, work, and play on the farm. Farming is an important job, but it can also be a very dangerous one.

Of the children who died, 88% were not working but were within the area where work-related activities were taking place. Farms can be hazardous, but by implementing injury prevention strategies, farms can be a wonderful place for children to live and grow.

Children require safe places to play outdoors on the farm. At this age, they still require supervision, and are not ready for performing agricultural work tasks. Key strategies to keep children safe on the farm include:

1. Clearly define spaces that are for work and designated safe spaces that are for play. Safe areas for children to play in should be fenced and free from all hazards. Hazards that can be found on farms include:

a. Water hazards such as irrigation ditches, dams, dugouts and lagoons
b. Heavy machinery like tractors and turbines
c. Grain wagons
d. Siloes
e. Fertilizers, pesticides, and other chemicals
f. Loud noises
g. Large livestock

2. Explain to children that farm machines are not toys. Farm machines are dangerous, and children should not play on or near heavy machinery.

a. Always lock or remove the key from farm machines when not in use.
b. Do not allow children as passengers on farming equipment, like mowers, tractors, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs, quads), or truck beds.

3. Visitors to the farm may not be aware of the hazards present on the farm. Ensure that they understand the hazards on the farm and that visiting children know where it is safe to play.

4. Inspect your farm and look for hazards. Remove or modify any identified hazard to prevent farm-related injuries. See https://www.agsafeab.ca for more information.

References

1. Injury Prevention Centre. Agriculture-related injury deaths, hospital admissions and major trauma in Alberta. Edmonton, AB: Injury Prevention Centre; 2016

GRADE 3 - Physical Education and Wellness Curriculum

ORGANIZING IDEA

Safety: A lifetime of optimal well-being is supported by prioritizing health and safety.

GUIDING QUESTION

How is safety connected to health?

LEARNING OUTCOME

Students investigate and explain safety and its correlation to health.

Proactive planning includes:

  • Wearing appropriate and protective gear
  • awareness of instructions and guidelines

Specific rules or guidelines can:

  • determine a course of action
  • prevent accidents
  • protect safety of self and others

Experiences that involve challenges and taking risks can develop knowledge around safety.

Resources that support personal safety include:

  • safety networks
  • emergency services
  • safety manuals or guidelines

Safety involves prevention that requires proactive planning.

Rules and guidelines can promote safety in various contexts.

Safety is impacted by the environment and behaviours.

Safety of self and others can be met through awareness of supports.

Examine situations that require proactive planning.

Explain the function or purpose of specific rules or guidelines within various contexts.

Generate examples of situations where behaviours would be appropriate and others where they would involve risk.

Identify available resources that support safety.

GRADE 3 - Science Curriculum

ORGANIZING IDEA

Scientific Methods: Investigation of the physical world is enhanced through the use of scientific methods that attempt to remove human biases and increase objectivity.

GUIDING QUESTION

How can investigation help to develop knowledge in science?

LEARNING OUTCOME

Students engage in investigation and consider its potential to build understanding of the natural world.

Observations and results from investigations can be analyzed by:

  • making connections to previous knowledge
  • asking questions
  • noticing changes
  • discussing
  • collaboration

Observations and results from investigations should be analyzed to confirm accuracy and build knowledge.

Discuss observations and the results of investigations.

Analyze observations and the results of investigations.

Ask questions about observations and the results of investigations.

GRADE 4 - Physical Education and Wellness Curriculum

ORGANIZING IDEA

Safety: A lifetime of optimal well-being is supported by prioritizing health and safety.

GUIDING QUESTION

How can taking responsibility impact safety?

LEARNING OUTCOME

Students analyze and explain responsibility and how it can impact personal and group safety.

Responsibility includes making decisions to ensure self or others are not in unsafe and uncomfortable situations.

Responsibility occurs in a variety of contexts, such as:

  • home
  • learning environment
  • community
  • Online

Responsibility includes making decisions when dealing with and handling a variety of substances.

Responsibility includes the opportunity, ability, or right to act independently or make decisions.

Responsibility includes an awareness of surroundings to determine the safety of a situation.

Describe responsibility and its impact on personal and group safety in a variety of contexts.

Examine how responsibility can impact safety in a variety of situations.

Learning Objectives

  1. Describe how to stay safe around tractors on the farm.
  2. Explain why it is not safe to play in storage bins, on grain wagons or near grain piles.
  3. Identify other hazards that could be present on a farm.

Key Messages

  • If there's only one seat, there should only be one person on it.
  • Make sure that the person driving the tractor or other farm equipment can see you.
  • Keep away from PTOs (power take-offs).
  • Grain is heavy and moves very fast. Stay away from storage bins and grain wagons.

Required Materials / Teacher Preparation

  1. The Alberta Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Economic Development Ministry provides a free manual on how to plan a farm safety day camp. The day camp is an interactive and rewarding opportunity to teach children about the importance of farm safety. A complete manual on how to plan your day camp, including a timeline, presenter notes, itinerary, caregiver letter, and activities, is available at: https://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$Department/deptdocs.nsf/all/aet11862/$FILE/Planning-a-Farm-Safety-Daycamp.pdf
  2. For the in-class activity, set up a computer, projector, and screen, and load the game ‘Splat’ onto the whiteboard / SMART board.
  3. Tractor Rollover Incident video.
  4. Grain flowing demonstration materials:
    a. Plastic container with a cap such as a 2 L pop bottle or milk jug
    b. Scissors
    c. Clean grain such as canola, barley or wheat (or un-popped popcorn)
    d. Small toy figurine about 5-8 cm (2-3 inches) tall such as LEGO® or PLAYMOBIL®
    e. Empty container to catch the grain
    i. Prepare the materials by cutting off the bottom of the container, ensure the cap is securely fastened to the other side
    f. Copies of the Grain Safety Experiment - Observation Sheet for each student in the class
  5. Copies of the Don’t get caught in grain crossword worksheet for each student.

Time Required to Teach Lesson

  • The Alberta Farm Safety Day Camp comprises the entire school day.
  • In-class lesson - approximately 30 minutes.

Safety Considerations

  • None.

Activities

1. If you are choosing to host a Farm Safety Day Camp, students will participate in a number of activities. Different stations should be set up for children to rotate through, including a chemical display, magnetic storyboard, gravity flow grain wagon, hand signal display, helmet display, hazard hunt, and hearing display. Check out the Planning a Farm Safety Day Camp resource.

2. For the in-class activity, set up a computer, projector, and screen, and load the game "Splat" onto the whiteboard / SMART board.

a. Divide the class into 5 groups, one for each character in the game. Have children go through each of the categories and answer the farm safety questions.
b. Categories include electricity, runover / rollover, animal safety, entanglement, chemical safety, drowning (including grain), hearing safety, ATV safety, and general safety.

i. Be sure to read the correct answer and review each farm safety rule before moving on to the next question.

3. Ask the class what type of hazards they could find on a farm?

a. Answers could be: barns, equipment and machinery (e.g., tractors), animals, chemicals, gates, bales of hay, vehicles, playgrounds, grain mills / wagons, ponds / dugouts / other bodies of water.
b. Explain to the class that farm machines are not toys. Farm machines are dangerous, and children should not play on or near heavy machinery, including tractors. Show the Tractor Rollover Incident video and discuss what happened. Tractor safety includes:

i. If there's only one seat, there should only be one person on it.
ii. Make sure that the person driving the tractor or other farm equipment can see you.
iii. Keep away from PTOs (power take-offs). This is a device that transfers power from a tractor to another farm implement. A PTO spins very quickly and it is very easy to have clothing or body limbs become entangled and wrapped around the rapidly spinning shaft.

4. This is a good time to use the grain safety demonstration to show the dangers of flowing grain. Explain to the class that there are many hazards on a farm, including piles of grain. Make sure all materials are ready and prepped (i.e., the bottom of the container has been cut off and when turned upside down the cap is securely fastened). Hand out a copy of the Grain Safety Experiment - Observation Sheet to each student in the class.

a. Turn the plastic bottle upside down so the cap is pointing to the ground
b. Fill the plastic container with 'grain'
c. Make sure the empty container is underneath the bottle with the grain
d. Stand the toy figurine on top of the grain.

i. Ask the class what they think will happen to the figurine when the cap is removed? They can record their hypothesis on the Grain Safety Experiment - Observation Sheet

e. Remove the cap from the plastic bottle, letting the grain flow into the empty container
f. Observe what happens to the toy figurine. The students can record their observation on the Grain Safety Experiment - Observation Sheet

i. The grain will flow rapidly out of the container, pulling the toy figure to the bottom, which is very similar to how quicksand works

g. Repeat the experiment 3 more times and have the class estimate the time until buried and then record the actual time it takes on their Grain Safety Experiment - Observation Sheet.

i. How many seconds did it take for the toy figure to become buried?
ii. In real life it only takes 5-10 seconds for a person to become buried in a grain.

h. Remind the class that:

i. Do not play in grain bins or grain piles
ii. Grain flows like water but acts like quicksand and will completely bury you in 5-10 seconds
iii. Never play or ride in grain wagons, trucks, combines or any type of grain storage

i. Provide each student with a copy of the Don’t get caught in grain crossword worksheet to complete.

Class Discussion Questions

a. Your friend wants to jump on the side of the combine and go for a ride. What should you do or say?
Prompts: It is not safe to ride on a combine or any other farm equipment. We can't do that because it is not safe, you could fall off and get hurt, and the driver doesn't know you are there.
b. Your friend is over and sees a wagon full of grain in the yard and wants to jump on it. What should you do or say?
Prompts: Grain acts like quicksand and can suck you down and you may not be able to breathe or get out. You should never play in grain bins, wagons or trucks.

Let's Review

Today we learned about farm safety and injury prevention.

Let’s Review: Farm Safety

Are you ready to review what we learned?
Select ‘true’ or ‘false’ for each question.

1 / 5

1. It is okay to play near tractors.

2 / 5

2. If you think something is unsafe, you should ask an adult for help.

3 / 5

3. It is okay to play in a pile of grain because it won’t move.

4 / 5

4. You should always be with an adult when you are around livestock.

5 / 5

5. You can be an extra rider on a tractor.

Your score is

0%

Home Connections

Send a letter home to caregivers informing them their child will be learning about farm safety. If the child lives in a rural community, encourage caregivers to do a farm safety tour with their children.

Community Connections

Invite a representative from a local community health centre, public health centre, or health promotion facilitator to come and present to the class on the importance of farm safety. For more specific information on farm safety, contact the Heartland Training and Support Hub, who have representatives based across the province who can provide physical and virtual farm safety presentations.

Sample Letter

(may be printed on school letterhead or used as a template for SchoolZone / SeeSaw)

Dear Parent / Caregiver,

Today our class learned about the importance of farm safety.

If you live in a rural or agricultural community or visit a farm, there are things you can do as a parent/caregiver to help keep your child safe on the farm. The following strategies are things that you can do on the farm to help keep your child injury-free:

  1. If you work on a farm, complete a farm safety assessment. Tour the farm and look for hazards, and remove or modify any identified hazard to prevent farm-related injuries.
  2. If you live on a farm, clearly define spaces that are for work, and safe spaces that are for play. Safe areas for children to play in should be fenced, and free from all hazards.
  3. Children do not have the same strength, knowledge, experience, coordination, and control as adults. Children may not be able to fully understand the risk of the activity they are doing. Ensure children only perform activities that are within their limits.
    a. Please refer to the Ag Youth Work Guidelines to determine which activities are age-appropriate for your child to perform on the farm. The Ag Youth Work Guidelines can be found at:
    https://cultivatesafety.org/safety-guidelines-search/?category=familyyouth
    b. More information can be found on MyHealthAlberta at:
    https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Alberta/Pages/keeping-your-child-safe-on-a-farm.aspx

 

By using these strategies, you can help teach your child to remain free from injury so that they can live and work on the farm safely.

 

Sincerely,

[Insert Teacher Name Here]

Additional Resources

Agriculture for Life:
https://www.agricultureforlife.ca

AgSafe Alberta:
https://www.agsafeab.ca

Farm Safety For Just Kids. (2014). Grain safety - background information and activity book.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hugSIRFmfEH7H-wnZexrq_SHZlgXcsJO/view?usp=drive_link

Farm Safety For Just Kids. (2015). Tractor safety - background information and activity book.
https://nasdonline.org/7180/d002405/tractor-safety-background-information-activity-book.html

Heartland Training and Support Hub (formerly the Alberta Farm Safety Centre):
https://www.heartlandsupport.ca/

National Children’s Center for Rural and Agriculture Safety. (2017). Child development and working in agriculture.
https://cultivatesafety.org/resourcesearch/?view=r-130

National Children’s Center for Rural and Agriculture Safety. (2022). Cultivate safety.
https://cultivatesafety.org/work

National Children’s Center for Rural and Agriculture Safety. (2020). Principles of child development associated with play (Ages 6 mos - 10 yrs).
https://cultivatesafety.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Child-Development-and-Play.pdf

North Carolina State Extension. (2018). Understanding grain bin hazards.
https://soybeans.ces.ncsu.edu/2018/09/understanding-grain-bin-hazards

WorkSafeBC. (2016). 4-H Working Safely on Tractors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spP7ZrIP77Y

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