Workshop set for child agricultural injury prevention

Farms are great places to grow up, but hazards are never far away. The death of a 4-year-old boy in Berks County, Pennsylvania, struck by a manure spreader on the final weekend of 2018, provided a sobering reminder.

Learn how to safeguard the next generation of farmers and ranchers by attending the Child Agricultural Injury Prevention Workshop, March 28-29, in Hershey, Pennsylvnia. The workshop will be limited to the first 60 registrants. Early bird deadline is March 1 ($199 registration fee). To register, go to http://www.marshfieldresearch.org/CAIP-Workshop. The workshop is designed for farm organizations, insurance professionals, healthcare providers, Extension, agribusiness, public health officials and media.

“By working together we can reach farmers with effective safety strategies,” said Marsha Salzwedel, M.S., National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety.

The interactive workshop will focus on the agricultural practices and safety needs of the Eastern United States, enabling participants to:

• Understand the leading causes of injuries to children who are either working or playing on farms;
• Describe interventions most likely to be effective in preventing childhood farm injuries; and
• Identify their (and their organization’s) unique role in helping farm children grow up happy and healthy.

The National Children’s Center, a program of the National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, is co-hosting the workshop with Penn State University and the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health, part of Bassett Healthcare.

Westfield Insurance, John Deere and the National Farm Medicine Center are co-sponsoring.

“Protecting our children needs to be a priority,” Salzwedel said. “A youth dies in an agricultural incident about every three days in the United States.”

For more workshop information, email nccrahs@marshfieldresearch.org or call 1-800-662-6900. The National Children’s Center is funded in part by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.