Bainville Students Learn During Progressive Agriculture Safety Day
According to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agriculture Health and Safety 2022 Fact Sheet, about every three days a child dies in an ag-related accident. Every day, 33 children are injured in an ag-related accident, yet 79 percent of those injuries aren’t from working when the injury occurred. The top ag-related fatalities and injuries involved transportation type machinery, including vehicles, tractors and ATVs.
This year marks the 29th year of the Progressive Agriculture Foundation’s Safety Days across the country. Bainville was the only school in Montana slated to host a PAF Safety Day. Students may not all live on a farm or ranch, but they may visit one and our area is very agriculture, so it’s important to know the information.
On Wednesday March 29, the Bainville K-12th grade participated in the program, which was co-hosted by Bainville FFA. The topics and presenters included Dennis Portra from John Deere, which is also a national sponsor of the PAF Safety Day. Portra showed how a tractor and baler power-take-off (PTO) works and why we need to have safety shields in place. He also, showed how many timse you can get wrapped in the powerful action of a PTO and your reaction time.
Several MSU Extension agents in the surrounding areas also presented sessions including Ardis Oelkers (Roosevelt) sun safety and the importance of using sunscreen and proper clothing, Marley Manoukian (Richland) talked about chemical safety with a Personal Protective Equipment kit and glow germ demonstration, and Jack Bazemore (Sheridan) taught about water safety and how to use life vests and where to throw a rope for help. Chuck Hyatt used a fire safety extinguisher simulator and taught how to properly put out a fire with an extinguisher. He also talked about stop, drop and roll.
The Bainville FFA taught grain safety, and how fast you can get caught in grain. They also let the students test their strength with a board attached to a rope and see how hard it is to pull someone that is submerged in grain. Lastly, the Roosevelt County Conservation District brought their rolling river trailer and learned about erosion, watersheds and flooding issues.
At the end of the rotations students were presented with take-home bags filled with donated items to complement what they had learned at the safety day. K-1 were also given bike helmets and participated in bike safety. The Progressive Agriculture Foundation provides curriculum, T-shirts, and the takehome bags for the students.
The Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program is the largest rural safety and health education program for children in North America. Their mission is to provide education and training to make farm, ranch and rural life safer and healthier for children and their communities.
