Farm safety education is receiving a financial boost from the MD of Foothills.
MD council approved a $2,000 donation to the Ag Service Board to help fund farm safety education classes brought to rural schools by the Farm Safety Centre.
The donation doubled last year’s $1,000 commitment.
MD Mayor Larry Spilak said the additional funds demonstrate council’s dedication to farm safety, which he said is important for the Province to see in light of Bill 6.
“We want to make sure we do our part to support farm safety education,” said Spilak. “This is about making sure as many people as possible know how to work safely on the farm.”
He said council has a strong agricultural background as a whole, and is very cognizant of the important of safety on the farm.
Supporting the Farm Safety Centre programs is just one way to provide education, he said.
According to its website, the centre brings presentations to classrooms from kindergarten to Grade 6, with each age group receiving messages of different themes.
Themes range from the risks of being a second passenger on farm equipment (kindergarten level) to boat and riding safety, and how to play safely on a farm. Each presentation builds on previous years, reviewing safety concepts learned before and integrating them into the new topic.
MD Coun. Rick Percifield said the sessions make farms a lot safer by arming children with the tools they need to recognize risks and bring home what they learn.
“Kids will be safer and might speak up if they see their parents or other family members doing something that wasn’t safe,” said Percifield, who farms near Blackie. “They might look and say something like, ‘They told us at school not to do that, and here’s why.’”
The benefit of the Farm Safety Centre program, he said, is that it not only makes children safer, but their parents as well.
He said education about safety is important when children and families are surrounded by potential risks on a daily basis.
Having presentations about safety and raising awareness goes a lot further than government rules, he said.
“We feel education is much more important than legislation,” said Percifield. “If people are education, they’re more likely to be safe than if they’re legislated into it.”
