"Farm machinery is not playground equipment!," is the warning that Taylor Mazenc's safety poster displays. Taylor, an 11-year-old Grade 5 student at St. Olivier School in Radville, is a first-place winner of this year's Saskatchewan Labour Farm Safety Poster Contest.

Taylor's poster, along with other first prize winning posters, will be featured in the 2002 Farm Safety Calendar which was released at Agribition.

The 12 first prize winners of the contest were awarded $50 and the second prize winners were awarded $25. The contest was open to all students from Kindergarten to Grade 9, with awards going to three age groups in four safety categories. The safety categories included machinery safety, yard and livestock safety, chemical and poisonous gas safety and electrical and fire safety.

"One in four people killed in farm accidents in Saskatchewan, is a child or adolescent," Labour Minister Debra Higgins said. "The very sad part is that most farm accidents, including those causing death, are preventable." The annual Farm Safety Poster Contest and Farm Safety Calendar are Sask. Labour initiatives designed to help educate students about the risk of farming, so they can stay safe now and become safe farmers of the future.

Since this initiative in 1996, more than 18,000 children have participated with calendars reaching the homes of more than 200,000 families.