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National Children's Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety
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Helping kids do the job safely

Driving a tractor with a trailerChildren grow up right before our eyes and each child has unique characteristics that develop over time. Because of the wide variation in children's growth and development as well as the diversity of agricultural practices, specific recommendations for children's work in agriculturePicking cucumbers cannot be based on age.

By using these guidelines adults can match up a child's physical and mental abilities with the tasks involved in completing different agricultural jobs. Ideally, children and adolescents will gain meaningful work experience with minimal risk of agricultural-related disease or injury.

 

 

 

Is your child ready for the job?

Follow these steps and you will know whether your child is ready to do the job.

  • Select the page of the job to be done.
  • Review the adult responsibilities and take steps to ensure a safe work setting.
  • Read the main hazard to understand how the most serious injuries occur.
  • Remember the important steps for protecting the child.
  • Read through each question on the checklist to:
    -evaluate the child's abilities
    -learn the suggested training and adult supervision
  • Look at the picture of the job being done correctly.
  • Let your child do the job safety!
Guideline Categories and Posters
Animal Care  
A1. Cleaning service alley (stall barn)
A2. Feeding milk to calves
A3. Feeding of silages or corn (to cattle)
A4. Feeding hay to cows (square bales)
A5. Feeding hay to horses (square bales)
A6. Leading/grooming animals
A7. Milking cows (using a pipeline)
A8. Working with large animals (horses, cattle, etc.)
A9. Catching & holding a pig
A10. Working with poultry
General Activities  
G1. Farmwork with an ATV
G2. Calf pens or hutches (cleaning)
G3. Cleaning Grain Bins
G4. Composting
G5. Irrigation systems (installation & operation)
G6. Operating a skid steer
G7. Farmstead equipment
G8. Repairing fence
G9. Running pressure washer
G10. Using a front-end loader (tractor mounted)
Manual Labor  
M1. Bending
M2. Climbing
M3. Lifting
M4. Picking rock
M5. Hand-weeding
M6. Harvesting strawberries
M7. Hand-harvesting vegetables
M8. Detasseling corn
M9. Pruning trees & vines
M10. Harvesting tree fruit
Implement Operations  
B1. Trailed implements (fieldwork)
B2. 3-Point implements (fieldwork)
B3. Remote hydraulics (fieldwork)
B4. PTO powered implements (fieldwork)
B5. Self-propelled equipment (fieldwork)
B6. Spreading solid manure
B7. Using an auger wagon
B8. Planting small grains (using a grain drill)
B9. Unloading grain
B10. Unloading silage (into an upright silo)
Haying Operations  
H1. Cutting hay (with a pull-type mower conditioner)
H2. Raking hay
H3. Baling hay
H4. Loading square bales (onto the wagon)
H5. Unloading hay
H6. Moving round bales (with 3-point hitch )
Tractor Fundamentals  
T1. Tractor operation chart
T2. Driving a farm tractor (no implement attached)
T3. Trailed implements (hitch/unhitch)
T4. 3-Point implements (hitch/unhitch)
T5. Hydraulics (connect/disconnect)
T6. Power take-off (connect/disconnect)
Specialty Production
P1. Harvesting ginseng berries
P2. Harvesting ginseng roots
P3. Trimming Christmas trees
P4. Riding setter to plant tobacco
P5. Topping tobacco
P6. Stripping tobacco
P7. Harvesting tobacco
P8. Hanging tobacco in drying barn
P9. Fieldwork with horses (trailed implements)
P10. Hitch/unhitch horses (trailed implements)
Spanish Version
S-M1. Bending
S-M3. Lifting
S-M6. Harvesting Strawberries
S-M7. Hand Harvesting Vegetables
S-T2. Driving a Tractor
S-G1. Using an ATV for Farmwork

 

The "North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks" contains several errors and omissions that appear in the 1999-2001 publication. Please accept our regrets and note the errata sheet that lists these errors and omissions.



Helping kids do the job safely is our goal!

North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT)

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