OLDS — Town council has made a $250 donation toward the Farm Safety Centre’s (FSC) Safety Smarts program, which teaches children about potential farm hazards and how to avoid them.
The decision was made during a council meeting last month.
Research has shown that the majority of non-work-related fatalities on Alberta farms involve children age 0 to 14.
The Safety Smarts program began in 1998 and is offered at no cost to participating schools.
This year it’s being offered to kids in school virtually via Zoom.
Through the program, rural children from kindergarten through Grade 6 learn about the many potential hazards on the farm and how to safely respond to each of them.
Community services director Doug Wagstaff told council that over the years, the program has been offered in several schools in and around Olds.
“We take a lot of pride in the fact that we’re an agricultural community and that our community does go beyond our municipal borders as they’re recognized,” Wagstaff said.
"As a community, we have kids who live in town, kids who live on farms, kids who live on acreages and who are visiting the farms in our area.”
Wagstaff said the knowledge youth learn via the program “protects them while they’re young, but also instills safety measures that will last them a lifetime.”
He said unfortunately, in 2020, COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns sent Safety Smarts organizers “for a little bit of a loop. But like many organizations, they’ve pivoted in a return in 2021 to be able to have some alternative delivery.”
A memo to council noted the town has provided a donation to the program in the past, as recently as 2019.
“I believe that this program benefits all students within our area,” Coun. Mary Jane Harper said.
