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Tractor safety course for teensEMPORIA, Kan. (AP)--Operating farm equipment is a dangerous and potentially deadly job, especially if those using the equipment don't know what they're doing or become complacent. Recently, through a program sponsored by the local E xtension offices, local Farm Bureaus and the Flint Hills Antique Tractor Club, more than two dozen youths attended the Flint Hills Tractor Safety Course. The course is required for 14 and 15-year-olds to operate farm machinery on a farm that is not owned by their parents. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that teenagers take the safety course offered through 4-H and vocational agriculture programs before being hired. "Farmers considering hiring help this summer should remember this requirement," said Michelle Koenig, Lyon County Extension 4-H agent. Participants who completed the two-part program and a written exam received a certificate. This certificate must be presented to their employer. A copy of the certificate is kept in the farmer's file along with a copy of the Child Labor Bulletin 102. "Those certificates do not indicate that the youth have been trained to operate a tractor or machinery," Brian Rees, Lyon County Extension agent said in a press release. "They just mean that the young people have completed the safety training and show proficiency in safety standards and protocol." Tyson Pettijohn, 15, of Olpe was one of those students. Pettijohn was taking the course so he could get a job this summer. Pettijohn said one of the things he took from the course was information about falls and major accidents. And that's exactly what Richard Garber, general manager of PrairieLand Partners John Deere and Mike Holder, Chase County Extension agent, were stressing during a tour of the shop of PrairieLand Partners. The students filed into the shop and listened silently to Garber and Holder describe safety measures and accidents; many of the accidents described were fatal accidents. Garber asked the students, while standing among large pieces of farm machinery, what causes an accident. "Attitude," one student called out. Garber agreed. "If you get out of your bed mad and you're going out with the equipment, you're probably going to stub your toe," he said. But it got much deeper than that as Garber spoke about fatal farm accidents, one involving a three-year-old child. Garber said one thing the students should never do is get complacent. "Complacency kills," he said. Holder cautioned the teenagers against running a piece of machinery they don't know how to operate. "None of us are born with knowledge of how to run tractors," he said. "The dumb part of it is if you pretend you know how to run it." The students were told never to let another rider on the machinery. "One seat, one rider," Holder said. "There is no room for a rider on a tractor--all you got to do is have something go wrong one time and you have to live with it for the rest of your life." Newer farm equipment has safety features that the old farm equipment doesn't, Garber explained. "This new equipment will take care of you," he said. "The older equipment won't. This old stuff--it will get you every way it can." Walking around the machinery before running it is critical because of blind spots, Holder said. "Don't do it some of the time; we do it all the time," he said. "Before we ever get on a tractor or move a piece of equipment, we need to do a walk-around." Holder told the teenagers to be mature when running equipment. "You guys, when you're running the equipment, you are adults," he said. 4/21/08 Date: 4/24/08
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