The Minnesota Department of Health recently announced the launch of Safer Farm Animal Contact Exhibits (Safer FACEs), a training program for agritourism venues. The free web-based, at-your-own-pace training offers an opportunity for owners and staff of these operations to learn how to keep visitors safe from illnesses that can spread from animals to people.
“The goal of the Safer FACEs training is to provide education that will help prevent illness in visitors to venues where the people can interact with animals,” said Malia Ireland, epidemiologist with the Zoonotic Diseases Unit. “This training is tailored for farm businesses such as the owners, operators, and staff of apple orchards or pumpkin patches that have petting zoos, farms that offer field trips or tours of their animal facilities, and farmer’s markets with farm babies.” The training program also applies to fairs and town festivals with animals present.
“Knowing how to set-up your venue correctly can have a huge impact on the spread of illness,” said Ireland. “Operators shouldn’t wait until there is an incident with illness to take steps to protect their visitors and themselves from disease.”
Broken down into six modules, Safer FACEs takes learners through the finer points of disease and injury prevention at an animal contact venue, including:
- Common health risks from animals and why owners/operators must be aware of them,
- How facility design can impact disease transmission,
- How type of animal and animal management affect the risk to human health,
- Topics for training staff on best practices,
- Methods for educating visitors on risks and prevention,
- Appropriate signage and handwashing.
“We know owners and operators of animal contact venues are strapped for time,” said Ireland, “so we focused the training on the most important parts of disease and injury prevention at an animal contact venue.”
The six modules and accompanying short quizzes should take roughly 2-3 hours to complete with users being able to exit and return to the training as needed. When complete, MDH will provide certification that your organization has learned best practices for visitor-animal interactions.
“Even healthy animals can carry germs that make people sick,” said Ireland. “Taking the Safer FACEs training will equip you and your staff with the tools to help avoid the spread of disease while maintaining all the fun of farm animals.”
For more information, email SaferFaces@state.mn.us with the following information: your name, your animal contact venue, and the best way to contact you. Alternatively, please call 651-201-5414 and ask about Safer FACEs.
The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) provided funding for Safer FACEs.
