Farm Injury and Safety Practices Among Rural Adolescents: A Qualitative Analysis to Support the Development of a Gamified Educational Resource

Objectives: Little is known about adolescent experiences of injury and adoption of safe or unsafe practices on farms, despite adolescents being at-risk of fatal and non-fatal injuries in the farm setting. To enhance understanding and inform the co-design of farm safety educational materials for teens, we aimed to explore farm injury experiences, safety practices, and educational preferences for secondary school students and their teachers. Methods: Nine focus groups of mixed gender students (year 7 and 8) and five one-on-one teacher interviews were conducted at three high schools teaching agriculture in rural Australia, across the states of New South Wales and Tasmania. Inductive thematic analysis of session transcripts was undertaken. Results: Five overarching themes emerged: “safety is not always front of mind”; “farm injuries are commonplace and downplayed”; “learning opportunities”; “school has a role”; and “teach me, but make it realistic and fun”. Students indicated injuries were inevitable, and widespread unsafe practices occurred. Farm safety information was received from parents or while on the job, although in some cases parents encouraged unsafe behaviors. Curriculum linked materials are important, yet teachers also saw the value in covering additional material outside of mandated content, as it is often relevant to students’ real-life experiences on farms. Students expressed interest in game-based learning on this topic but were adamant it needed to be fun and realistic. Conclusion: Farm injury is preventable, and opportunities exist to educate adolescents about farm injury prevention via fun and engaging materials delivered at school. Insights from students and teachers around preferred educational design and content have informed the development of the “Calm Your Farm” (www.calmfarm.education) online gamified educational resource and may also be helpful to others working to influence farm safety practices among a typically difficult to engage age group.