Safety Guidelines for Hired Adolescent Farm Workers

With funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety Health (NIOSH), a project team led by staff of the National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety in Marshfield, Wisconsin initiated a project to develop and distribute user-friendly safety resources that highlight relevant regulations and enhance the ability to effectively assign tasks and supervise adolescent farm workers. To date, the English and Spanish version resources address: 1) Characteristics of Adolescent Workers; 2) Working Outdoors; 3) Harvesting Tree Fruit and Climbing a Ladder; 4) Basic Tractor Operations; 5) Working with Large Animals: 6) Working with Utility Vehicles; and 7) Hand Harvesting Fruit and Vegetables. Depending on the agricultural operation, an employer would likely select three of the above topics for use.

Each colorful, illustrated poster addresses supervisor responsibilities for ensuring work conditions are appropriate and adequate and for assessing their teen workers. Training and supervision tips, specific to teens and to each job, are provided. Each poster includes illustrations of three main hazards and three points to remember for quick reference. Finally, each poster includes pertinent federal regulations and referrals to obtain state-specific child labor regulations. By late 2008 these new guidelines will be widely available, distributed to agricultural employers through the internet, agricultural media, and producer organizations. This poster presentation will include samples of the guidelines and strategies to obtain feedback from supervisors of youth, as well as pilot testing of the materials.