During National Farm Safety and Health Week, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is reminding farm families that staying safe means recognizing how abilities and responsibilities change with age.
ISU Extension agriculture engineering specialist Daniel Andersen says farm safety is not one-size-fits-all. Jobs appropriate for a teenager may not be safe for a young child, while tasks that were easy for a farmer at age 40 may become more difficult later in life.
For children, Andersen recommends matching farm tasks to their age, abilities and understanding of risk, then gradually adding responsibilities as they demonstrate they’re ready.
Farmers should also be willing to make adjustments as they get older. Changes such as adding an extra step to a tractor, improving ladder access or updating cattle-handling facilities can help compensate for changes in strength, balance and reaction time.
Andersen says families are often good at helping children grow into new responsibilities, but may have a harder time recognizing when older family members need to grow out of certain tasks.
The goal, he says, isn’t to keep anyone away from the farm, but to keep family members safely involved in the work that matters to them.