Opportunities to Develop Programs and Engage Amish Youth in Safety Education

Understanding and designing appropriate educational youth safety programs for the Amish requires an appreciation of their history, their distinctiveness in an American society built on economic, social and cultural change, and how the Amish themselves have changed over the years. The qualitative research study highlighted in this paper sought to determine culturally and age-appropriate curricula useful to community educators interested in youth safety programs for Amish and other conservative Anabaptist groups. Researchers identified rural safety topics of interest to Amish families to include lawn mowers, string trimmers, chemicals, water, livestock, confined spaces, tractors and skid loaders. Parents regularly involved children in daily farm chores, where they made assignments based on the child’s physical development, maturity, interest in the task, and birth-order. Findings suggest opportunities for cooperative extension professionals to develop and engage Amish children in safety education programs

Efforts to Improve Roadway Safety: A Collaborative Approach between Amish Communities and a Professional Engineering Society

Lighting and marking recommendations for animal-drawn buggies and wagons were first established in 2001 through an American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) Engineering Practice, EP576.1. Many Anabaptist communities who primarily rely on animal-drawn vehicles utilize this practice for marking their buggies and wagons; however they do not utilize the practice for their low-profile vehicles, such as pony carts. Visibility for pony carts on public roads is important to protect the operators, typically women and children. Following a series of tragic deaths in their community, the Holmes and Wayne Counties, Ohio, Amish safety committee raised the concern of having a consistent lighting and marking scheme for these low-profile vehicles. They also called for an additional aerial device to boost the cart\u27s visibility to the motoring public. This project took approximately two years to develop consensus among Anabaptist stakeholders and members of the professional engineering society. The result of this effort was a revised Engineering Practice, EP576.2, which enhanced the previous recommendations to include consistent lighting and marking of low-profile animal-drawn vehicles

Opportunities to Develop Programs and Engage Amish Youth in Safety Education

Understanding and designing appropriate educational youth safety programs for the Amish requires an appreciation of their history, their distinctiveness in an American society built on economic, social and cultural change, and how the Amish themselves have changed over the years. The qualitative research study highlighted in this paper sought to determine culturally and age-appropriate curricula useful to community educators interested in youth safety programs for Amish and other conservative Anabaptist groups. Researchers identified rural safety topics of interest to Amish families to include lawn mowers, string trimmers, chemicals, water, livestock, confined spaces, tractors and skid loaders. Parents regularly involved children in daily farm chores, where they made assignments based on the child’s physical development, maturity, interest in the task, and birth-order. Findings suggest opportunities for cooperative extension professionals to develop and engage Amish children in safety education programs

Utilization of an interdisciplinary student design team to develop a modern grain entrapment simulator

Abstract Incidents of entrapment in flowable agricultural material (i.e. grain) have been on the raise as a result of increased on site storage of these commodities i . Grain entrapments can occur when a victim becomes buried in material beyond the point of self-extrication ii . Ohio currently ranks 7 th in total number of these agricultural confined space incidents in flowable material, behind the states of Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Nebraska iii . There is no surprise that the frequency of entrapment is highest in the Midwest corn-belt, where a sizeable portion of agricultural commodities are stored. A long-standing partnership has existed between the Ohio Fire Academy (OFA) and The Ohio State University's Agricultural Safety and Health (OSU ASH) program. Both entities recognized the need for a training unit focused on grain entrapment, but limited resources (i.e. funding, labor) delayed the construction of such a unit for several years. An interdisciplinary student team was utilized in 2012 to design and fabricate a modern grain entrapment simulator to meet the needs of OFA and OSU ASH. This project served as a trial capstone experience for students enrolled the Agricultural Systems Management (ASM) program within the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering (FABE) at The Ohio State University. This project was conducted prior to a formal capstone course offering in the ASM curriculum. Four senior ASM and one Civil Engineering (CE) student enrolled in individual study credit hours as compensation for their efforts. This project was able to highlight the various strengths of the students to produce a device capable of providing training and awareness education to emergency responders, agricultural producers, and industry professional. Introduction The first installment of an Agricultural Systems Management (ASM) capstone design course was scheduled to begin in the 2013 spring semester. Located within the Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering (FABE), the ASM program traditionally recruits students from rural communities and large towns with an interest in production agriculture

Accessibility and Inclusion as an Approach to Enhancing Local Extension Programs

Providing accessible learning opportunities and inclusive programs are critical to Extension’s mission. Creating inclusive environments is more than consideration for individuals’ personal identity. Using principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) is an approach to intentionally build community and create new opportunities for education and growth. The Americans with Disabilities Act is a federal law requiring businesses and events to be accessible to individuals with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states, “no qualified individual with a disability may be discriminated against in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” The legislation applies to Extension buildings, programs, and gardens that are available to the public. This article highlights Extension’s relevance for creating accessible spaces and programs with examples from four U.S. states. Extension professionals within AgrAbility, occupational health, and therapeutic horticulture describe their experiences integrating IDEA to enhance urban agricultural programs. They share best management practices and additional resources applicable for community gardens, greenhouses, agritourism, and urban agricultural spaces. When Extension professionals and their collaborators strive to make urban programming accessible, they enhance the quality of life for participants. Applying disability service concepts to urban communities maximizes the Land Grant’s mission to create inclusive environments, ultimately impacting agricultural sustainability

Using Expert Panel Data to Guide Youth Agricultural Safety and Health Training Resources in the US

The US Department of Labor (US DOL) oversees the Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Orders (AgHOs), which identifies specific tasks that youth are prohibited from performing for hire on American farms and ranches. An educational exemption from this public policy is currently in place that allows youth, 14–15 years old, to complete a certification program prior to engaging in agricultural work involving tractors and machinery. However, limited guidance is provided in the legislation regarding the format or content of the tractor and machinery certification exemption. Four AgHOs (tractor and machinery) studies were identified and included in this meta-analysis publication. The research goals of this analysis were to determine basic trends of learning outcomes, and identify educational content to be delivered as a result of these studies. Within each of the four studies, expert panels were used to identify educational learning outcomes. The analysis revealed that 48.0% (n = 184) of all learning outcome items fell within the Tractor-based (Tractor) learning outcome category, 29.8% (n = 114) within General Safety and Health (General), and 22.2% (n = 85) of items in the Machinery-based (Machinery) category. Ultimately, sound educational methods and understanding of fundamental student competence are essential components for any training program, including youth who complete AgHOs tractor and machinery certification programs

Developing Business Continuity Plans for County Extension Offices: The Ohio Approach

In a world where disasters can strike at any time and at any magnitude, it is important for Extension organizations to be resilient and assist their community through localized crises. Preparedness at the organizational level has a relational effect to the amount of support available to communities at their hour of need. When county Extension offices are prepared and have protocols in place to allow them to rebound quickly, office personnel are better equipped to facilitate and respond to recovery needs. This article presents Ohio\u27s commitment to ensure emergency preparedness of its Extension county offices using business continuity plans