Safe on the Farm

Brian Kuhl smiles as he recalls exchanges with parents whose children have attended Progressive Agriculture Safety day events.

“Coordinators get phone calls from parents asking them, ‘What did you teach my kid? now he’s telling me how to be safe,’” says Kuhl, CHS director of strategic sourcing and Progressive Agriculture Foundation (PAF) board president. “By teaching kids about safety, we are training them to be stronger role models.”

The facts are staggering. Every day 38 U.S. children are injured in agriculture-related accidents, according to the national Children’s Center for rural and Agriculture Health and Safety. Even more startling: Every three days a child dies in an agriculture-related incident.

CHS partners with PAF and other organizations that are committed to improving safety in rural areas and equipping kids with skills so they don’t become another sad statistic.

Every year more than 400 safety days are hosted for children ages 12 and younger. PAF coordinators and volunteers host interactive sessions to teach kids lessons ranging from farm equipment use and grain bin safety to broader issues, such as ATV and chemical safety.

“the idea of rural safety is changing,” says Kuhl. “there is increased focus on lifestyle safety topics, and safety days have started popping up in larger cities.”

Producers can get involved, says Kuhl, by encouraging their children to participate in a safety day or as a volunteer. the PAF website (progressiveag.org) has a list of safety days and resources available for anyone interested in coordinating their own.

“At CHS, we hold safety as a high priority,” says Kuhl. “our hope is that through support of programs like PAF we can drive value for our member-owners and support groups that positively impact their rural communities.”

Identifying ways to help children recognize the value of safety can be difficult. that was key when CHS worked with the Propane Education & research Council (PERC) on the need to educate rural youth about uses and hazards surrounding propane.

“We know children and young adults who live and work in agriculture are an integral and impressionable group of people,” says Stuart Flatow, PERC vice president, safety and training. “We wanted to create resources that are geared toward them.”

With funding from CHS, PERC developed our Amazing Farm learning tools, which use videos and games to help kids learn about propane and general farm safety. the program also offers science experiments that can be conducted using items found around the farm.

In a series of three videos, kids follow along with host Propane Paul, a high-energy, safety-conscious farmer who takes a trip around his farm to find common safety hazards. Along the way, he and his puppet sidekick Frankie the Forklift offer tips to find potential safety threats and stop them in their tracks.

“Propane Paul brings just the right blend of humor, energy and credibility to the videos, as well as a ‘coolness’ factor that kids of all ages relate to,” says Flatow.

the Propane Kids website (propanekids.com/agsafety) encourages kids to explore areas where they can spot differences, create their own farms and play farm bingo to familiarize themselves with how propane is used on the farm.

“Part of propane safety is increasing awareness,” says Ron Batey, CHS director of propane risk and asset development. “We believe propane is one of the safest fuels, and PERC resources are a way to make learning about propane more approachable and fun.”

The key to shrinking the injury statistic is understanding, says Batey. Whether it’s through videos or safety days, the hope is that safety will become engrained in the lives of young people, allowing them to recognize potential accidents before they happen.

“The earlier you instill safety values, the longer they last,” he says. “People often keep track of negative statistics because it’s difficult to measure the number of accidents that have been prevented. If we can teach safety behaviors and cause a child to stop and think in a situation, then we’ve done our job.”

Everyone knows a story of a child who has been injured on the farm, Kuhl says. “We care about our communities. When kids get injured or killed, it affects everyone. If we keep one kid safe, that’s all that matters.”

Sometimes, despite proactive efforts, accidents simply cannot be prevented. In these cases, the right training and rescue equipment can mean the difference between life and death.

In 2015, CHS Stewardship awarded more than 50 safety grants totaling more than $800,000 to rural fire departments and national partnerships to assist with projects ranging from extrication and grain bin safety equipment to training and life-saving devices, such as defibrillators.

“CHS and the CHS Foundation have an ongoing commitment to safety with special emphasis on producers, their families and cooperative employees working in agriculture,” says William nelson, president, CHS Foundation, and vice president, CHS Corporate Citizenship. “We are proud to support rural communities across the CHS trade area and provide them with essential equipment necessary to save lives.”

One example of this was a recent grant to the Mid-County Ambulance district near Cygnet, Ohio. Using a $6,000 CHS rural safety grant and a $6,000 matching contribution from CHS member cooperative Mid-Wood, Inc., the ambulance service was able to purchase a Lucas Chest Compression System.

“When I received the call from Tom Dorman, CEO of Mid-Wood, who informed me of what CHS and Mid-Wood partnered to do for us, it brought a tear to my eye,” says Chris Maenle, Mid-County Ambulance district EMS chief. “that is truly the meaning of cooperative — when companies come together to benefit their communities.”