As part of National Farm Safety and Health Week, the founder and president of an Iowa-based group is leading an “awareness walk” starting today in western Nebraska at Wood River. The long hike will conclude in Brooklyn, Iowa, on Friday. Marilyn Adams, who began “Farm Safety 4 Just Kids” nearly 16 years ago, says the number of children killed in farm accidents has fallen dramatically since then.She started the organization in October of 1987 and some 300 children were dying in family farm accidents nationwide. The latest numbers put the child farm deaths at 104. Adams, who lives in Earlham, says she’s broadened the group’s programs over the years to address issues that weren’t originally considered as farm concerns. They include: rural road safety — driving on gravel and buckling up while riding in the pickup truck, A-T-V safety, and rural health issues like working around chemicals and livestock. Adams says farmers should install safety guards on machinery and follow safety recommendations when operating equipment. Also, she says the triangular orange-colored “slow moving vehicle” signs need to be prominent and clean of dirt on the backs of tractors, wagons and all other farm vehicles. She says kids from the group will go to coops and clean the signs when farmers come in.For more information on this week’s awareness walk or other farm safety programs, call 800 423-5437 or surf to “www.fs4jk.org.”
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