A36-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 11,1989
BY LISA RISSER
KENNETT SQUARE (Chester)
“More than half of the serious
injuries to children that I see are to
relatives of business owners,” Joe
McKeefrey told fanners. “Child
ren are more likely to get hurt if
their parents own the business
because not many employees are
going to tell the owner’s child not
to do something.”
McKeefrey addressed attendees
at the Conference For Employers
of Farm Labor this week, discuss
ing child labor laws and the federal
Migrand and Seasonal Agricultur
al Worker Protection Act.
McKeefrey, compliance officer
with the U.S. Department of
Labor, Wage and Hour Division
(DOL), noted “because kids are
more likely to get hurt, there are
child labor laws. Kids have more
of a tendency to do stupid things
and get hurt than older people.”
Farmers who plan on hiring
youth under 16 years of age should
contact their local DOL office for
information on child labor laws.
“We don’t expect farmers or any
businessman to have these laws
memorized,” McKeefrey stressed.
“But they should give us a call and
see if what they plan to have that
minor doing is legal.”
SELL
IT
WITH
A
LANCASTER
FARMING
CLASSIFIED
Child Labor Laws
Is Your Minor Working Legally?
When considering minor work
ers, farmers should call their insur
ance company as well because
some will not provide coverage on
under-age employees.
Child labor laws are broken
down by age and are geared to
farm work and non-farm work.
Any youth older than 16 years may
work on a farm at any time and at
any job. Youths 14 or 15 years old
may work outside of school on
farm jobs not declared hazardous
by the Secretary of Labor. Child
ren 12 or 13 years old may work
outside of school on farm jobs not
declared hazardous with the writ
ten parental consent or if their
parents work on that farm. Child
ren under 12 years of age may not
work on farms employing workers
covered by the minimum wage
provisions. On all other farms,
they may work in nonhazardous
jobs outside school hours with
written parental consent
For children 10 to 11 years old,
they may work at hand harvesting
jobs of short-season crops outside
of school hours for no more than
eight weeks between June 1 and
October 15 if their employers have
special waivers from the Secretary
of Labor.
In addition, youth of any age
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may work at any time on any farm
job if their parents own or operate
the farm. “But I would recommend
against it,” McKeefrey stated.
“I’ve seen too many serious inju
ries on children. I know what I’m
talking about because I was raised
on a horse farm and my father
wouldn’t let me do many things
while I was young. I still have all
my fingers and some of my neigh
bors don’t. Kids aren’t as careful
as adults.”
There are many farm activities
that are considered hazardous.
Some of them include operating a
tractor over 22 PTO, connecting or
disconnecting implements from
the tractor, operating many field
implements such as grain harves
ters or hay mowers, operating
earth movers, being in a pen or
yard with a bull, boar, stud horse,
sow suckling piglets, or cow with
calf, and using a ladder or scaffold
higher than 20 feet. More specific
information can be obtained at
DOL.
There are some exemptions
from the prohibitions on hazardous
jobs, farmers should contact DOL
for details.
The requirements for youths
working on non-farm jobs are
more stringent and there are
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hazardous jobs limiting 16 and 17
year olds. In addition, there is a
limit on the number of hours child
ren under 16 years are allowed to
work.
Violations of child labor laws
mean a $l,OOO fine in addition to
remorse for the accident. Employ-
Pennsylvania Corn
Tests Free Of Aflatoxin
HARRISBURG State Agri
culture Secretary Boyd E. Wolff
said that testing has shown
Pennsylvania-grown com was vir
tually free of aflatoxin, a mold that
attacks com and is a danger pri
marily to livestock.
“The testing results indicate
that com grown in Pennsylvania is
safe for human and livestock con
sumption,” Wolff said. “The
level of aflatoxin appears no high
er than what might be expected in
a normal year.”
The Slate Agriculture Depart
ment ordered the tests last fall
after high levels of aflatoxin were
detected in com grown in mid
western states. Tests of 126 sam
ples of shelled com in Pennsylva
nia uncovered contamination
MONDAY. FERR
Date:
Time: 10:
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Place: OUR
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ADAMSTOWN EQUIP.. INC.
Box 456 Adamstown, Pa. 19501
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ers also could be in line for a law
suit from the injured child’s
parents.
There are many jobs on a farm
that children can perform and per
form in safety. It is up to the farmer
to find out which they can do.
above acceptable levels in only
one sample. That com will not be
used.
Aflatoxin, produced by a mold
that thrives on drought-stressed
plants, is poisonous to cattle in
large doses and is suspected of
causing liver cancer in humans. In
Pennsylvania, aflatoxin would be
mainly a danger to livestock, since
virtually all of the com grown in
the state is used to feed livestock
and is not processed for human
consumption.
Wolff said the tests, conducted
on com samples obtained state
wide, showed no aflatoxin in 113
instances, less than 20 parts per
billion (ppb) in 12 instances; and
one sample of 80 ppb. Com with
less than 20 ppb of aflatoxin is not
restricted in use.
ARY 1
TORE