In 2019, Clemson Extension extended its services to focus on the importance and education of agricultural safety. The initial purpose of the Agricultural Safety Program at Clemson University is to increase awareness of agricultural safety procedures, maintenance operations, and safety operations so that people can work safely in the agricultural industry.
The Clemson University Agricultural Safety Program coordinators have begun developing a three-tiered safety initiative. The tiers are structured to serve diverse populations and focus on priority areas of need within the state. Growing Safe Tigers focuses on expanding the current initiative for youth ages 14-17, through field days and other school events. For adult education (18 and over), the Grow Safe in Agriculture and Industry initiative provides training and resources for the adult education programs in South Carolina, as well as helps to develop an undergraduate safety course for students in the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences at Clemson University.
Since starting this program, the outreach has included hosting multiple Agriculture Safety Field Days for high school students. The field days include various topics and demonstrations to help prevent agricultural incidents. In 2024, these field days were delivered to over 460 South Carolina students, 33 cooperative extension agents, and 55 agricultural education teachers.
By educating agricultural educators and providing them with material to take back to their classrooms, they can continue to teach their students year after year about agricultural safety. Agricultural safety programs are not limited to these events; interest has exceeded initial expectations and has been expanded to farm shows, county agriculture events, and state agriculture conventions.
