Agricultural Sciences

Penn State Extension offers tractor-safety instructor training online

Credit: Michael Houtz / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State Extension is offering an online course for adults interested in teaching and certifying safe tractor and machinery operation practices to youth working in agriculture.

The “National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program Instructor Training” online curriculum provides the education and materials necessary for participants to become certified program instructors, according to Peggy Newel, program coordinator.

These instructors will teach the National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation Program, which is for 14- and 15-year-olds seeking employment in production agriculture. The U.S. Department of Labor requires youth younger than age 16 who wish to work on a nonfamily-owned farm to complete the training.

“We offer this training to increase the number of qualified instructors, not only in Pennsylvania but across the country,” she said. “The more instructors that we certify, the more opportunities there will be for youth to receive the training and certification they need.”

Course participants will learn how to identify minimum core content areas; effectively organize and communicate safety information to youth; conduct written, operating-skills and driving tests that youth are required to complete; and understand the Labor Department's agriculture Hazardous Occupation Orders.

To learn more and to enroll, visit extension.psu.edu/nstmop-training.

 

Last Updated March 17, 2020

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