The Rural Voice, 1980-06, Page 17on the hazards of machines such as forage
harvestors and combines.
Again, a number of films were used in
the classroom to emphasize how to handle
power machinery properly.
Mr. Hill said now that the program has
been completed, the board will evaluate
its success and decide if they want a
similar program presented in the schools
again next year.
In Huron County, a farm safety program
was introduced into rural elementary
schools this winter, a co-operative venture
between the Huron County board of
education and the OPP.
Constable William Hassall, community
relations officer for the Goderich OPP
detachment, will have visited 244 class-
rooms around the county with the farm
safety message, Safety Last Consideration,
by the end of June.
The policeman said farmers are
"diligent, hard working people who try to
get as much work accomplished in a given
time frame as possible" but adds,
"sometimes safety is the last consider-
ation." Since many youngsters are already
working around the farm at age 10 or 11
with equipment including tractors and
balers, the elementary grades are the
obvious place to deliver the warning about
farm hazards.
Constable Hassall's program includes
showing the entire school the film Play
Safe, prepared by the War Amputees of
Canada. This film features interviews with
young people who lost either arms of legs
in farm accidents and it's a haunting
introduction to the hazards of farm life.
In many Huron County schools the film
has proved particularly meaningful to
senior boys, since tfiey play in the same
hockey league as a Mitchell youth who tells
about losing his arm in the movie.
After the students have seen the film,
Constable Hassall visits each classroom to
discuss the film with the students and
review safety precautions needed on the
farm. The message the OPP officer wants
to drive home is that children working on
the farm must learn to beware of the
moving parts of farm equipment and must
use common sense to avoid accidents in the
barn.
Since students enjoy "show and tell
sessions", the officer starts his presenta-
tion by asking students to tell him about
farm accidents they know of on a firsthand
basis.
In a Grade 7 class at Huron Centennial
School in Brucefield, for example, one
student told about a neighbour who lost his
hand in an auger, another about his father
catching his finger in a cement mixer and a
third about a small cousin who lost a hand
when she stuck it in a farm forager.
This response isn't unusual and
Constable Hassall points out, "You can see
that accidents happen right around home,
maybe on your own farm."
After Constable Hassall has the
students' attention, he brings out two kits
provided for the program by the Farm
Safety Association. The first kit includes
models of equipment found on today's
farms and the second kit shows the interior
of a barn.
Tractor safety is obviously a major part
of Constable Hassall's program. He
emphasizes the fact the only safe place to
sit on tractors is in the driver's seat or, in
the larger enclosed cab tractors, in the
seats provided for the driver and his
passenger. He warns that riding on the
tractor fender or on the rear of the vehicle
can lead to tragedy if the vehicle hits a
sudden bump.
Another situation the officer reviews
with the students is taking a tractor up a
steep incline. One of the girls in the class
suggests the only way to do this is to go up
backwards, but one of the boys suggests its
just as safe to try the frontways approach.
ROLLOVER
Constable Hassall reminds the
students what happens when they try to
drive their bicycles up a steep hill and
points out the front wheels can tilt up on a '
tractor the same way they do on a bicycle.
The result is rollover -one of the commonest
tractor accidents, and one that often has
fatal results. The way to avoid rollover, he
emphasizes, is to back the tractor up an
incline.
TRAFFIC REGULATIONS
The OPP officer also reviews the
regulations under the Highway Traffic Act
which govern operation of a tractor by a
minor. While younger drivers can operate
tractors on their own farms, tractors can be
taken on public highways (or the shoulder
of these highways) only by drivers 16 years
of age and older, although the drivers don't
have to have an operator's license. The
only time someone younger than that can
drive a tractor on the highway is to cross
the road from one farm laneway to another.
Keeping this rule in mind, Constable
Hassall said, "might save your Dad a ticket
if the black and white (OPP patrol car) is
coming along the highway at the same
time."
Another machine which is given special
attention in the farm safety discussion is
the auger. The rule of thumb, the constable
and students conclude, is to turn off the
tractor and take out the key before sticking
a hand near the machine. The police
officer refers to Marian, one of the girls
interviewed in Play Safe, who described
losing her leg when playing in a grain bin
at the same time her father was using the
auger.
Constable Hassall warns the students
it's not just machines like augers or hay
balers that are dangerous, but even less
complicated equipment like the manure
spreader. He emphasizes it doesn't matter
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THE RURAL VOICE/JUNE 1980 PG. 16