Identification and Validation of Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Order Certification Program Instructor Criteria and Competencies

The USDA/NIFA has awarded funding to Land Grant Institutions to conduct and enhance the Hazardous Occupations Safety Training in Agriculture (HOSTA) program.# The HOSTA program is designed to provide relevant educational opportunities in an effort to reduce the frequency and severity of farmrelated injuries to all youth who work in agricultural production and to meet the current training requirements of the Agricultural Hazardous Occupations Order (AgHOs) for non-exempt youth. The Cooperative Extension Service and secondary school agricultural science and business programs are designated by the AgHOs as the only entities eligible to conduct and affirm completion of certification training. However, the law does not identify the minimum core competencies necessary for instructors and there are currently no evidence-based criteria to assess the preparedness of individuals who provide instruction to youth seeking AgHOs certification. One of the objectives of the current HOSTA project at Purdue University is to identify and validate prescribed criteria and desired core competencies for instructors who conduct certification training. This paper summarizes the findings of the validation process and reports on the core criteria and competencies identified.