Agritourism is a growing business, offering the public a chance to interact with animals in a way that they may otherwise not be able to do. However, even healthy animals can carry diseases that are harmful to guests, and it’s in your best interest as an operator to ensure your guests are safe during their visit to your farm. This video describes how to lay out a design for safe and successful agritourism events.
The design of your attraction is important. The layout of your attraction can naturally be designed for the safety and hygiene of your guests. The first step is to keep animal areas separate from other areas of the farm particularly where food is purchased and consumed.
Transition areas are another important aspect of the plan where guests enter and exit the animal exhibit areas. A one-way flow of visitors is preferred, with separate entrance and exit points. This can help control visitor flow and overcrowding and serve as an educational area for visitors. Large signs and posters that are easy to read, and offered in multiple languages can inform visitors of the risks that come with animal contact, and simple measures that can reduce those risks.
The entrance transition area can also serve as a holding area for strollers and other items that should not be allowed in the animal areas, such as food or beverages.
Limit exposures in the animal contact area by providing barriers such gates and fences. These areas naturally contain fecal material or soiled bedding so the risk of exposure to harmful germs increases. Remember, animal contact areas should be designed to limit these exposures, which can contaminate not only hands, but also shoes and clothing.
Another important recommendation is to keep children out of pens with animals, and only allow contact through barriers. Using solid pen barriers along the ground to minimize contaminating visitor walkways with soiled bedding may reduce contamination of clothing and shoes. Finally, walkways and barriers should be easy to clean and disinfect.
In the exit transition area, staff and educational posters should encourage visitors to use hand washing stations immediately after exiting the animal contact area. These handwashing stations should be convenient and as close to the exit as possible. A proper handwashing station includes running water and plenty of soap and paper towels
Think about how your own visitors will move through your site and ask yourself these questions:
- Is the animal contact area separate from other areas?
- Is there a clear, one-way flow in and out?
- Are visitors being educated on how to protect themselves from disease?
- Are there enough hand-washing stations available to meet your needs?
Follow these guidelines to ensure your operation is safe and successful. For more resources on safe agritourism, go to umash.umn.edu/a..., www.safeagritourism.org and #agritourism
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Produced by the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health. Funding provided through a joint organizational partnership between the Council of State and territorial Epidemiologist (CSTE) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provided by CSTE through sub-awards from the CDC cooperative agreement numbers: 5U380T000145. Additional funding provided through a cooperation agreement from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), U54OH010170.
This video is provided for informational and educational purposes only. The video contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of CDC/NIOSH or any other funders.
5 сен 2024
