The purpose of the Gearing Up for Safety program is to provide you with the necessary tools for organizing and conducting a local production agriculture safety training program for youth, and to afford parents, employers, or supervisors of youth the means to conduct on-the-job safety training. It includes program planning suggestions, resources, and a carefully designed and tested curriculum for teaching desired core competencies and related information. These topics have been identified in federal regulations and by agricultural safety and health experts as essential for youth to know and demonstrate in order to safely operate agricultural tractors and equipment, as well as perform other hazardous farm and ranch tasks. The first 16 lessons of the contents are specifically designed for youth between the ages of 14 and 19 who are either legally protected under child labor or federal workplace safety and health regulations, or who are enrolled in 4-H or secondary agricultural education programs. The training would also be extremely beneficial for the children of farm and ranch owners who are engaged in daily agricultural production activities but exempt from most federal and state workplace safety and health regulations. In addition, supplemental lessons are included on topics recognized as especially hazardous for young and beginning workers.

Assistance to Students with Special Needs

Programs should strive to accommodate students with identified special needs such as physical or learning disabilities. Consider all added safety concerns for youth with physical disabilities when operating tractors. Please contact Michelle Bachand at 715-619-7467 if you’d like to discuss accommodations for youth with a physical or cognitive disability.

Youth who are physically too small to safely operate the controls or too young to comprehend and learn the materials are not considered to have special needs. Youth with identified learning disabilities needing assistance for the written exam may be read the exam. However, it is recommended that a parent/guardian does not read the exam to the youth.