A farm laborer died after he was caught in the rotating feed roller of a brush shredder

Details

• Personal Author:
  Chan, Jacqueline ; Harrison, Robert ; Shor, Glenn ; Styles, Laura
• Corporate Authors:
  California Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (CA/FACE) ; California. Department of Public Health. Occupational Health Branch
• Description:
  A farm laborer died when he was caught in the rotating feed roller of a brush shredder. He was operating the brush shredder to clear debris and branches in an almond field when the incident occurred. The victim positioned himself in front of the feed roller while the shredder was still powered on, possibly to dislodge branches stuck in the feed roller teeth, and became caught in the rotating teeth. The CA/FACE investigator determined that, in order to prevent similar incidents, employers who operate brush shredders should: 1) Retrofit or purchase brush shredders with an operator presence sensing system (OPSS). 2) Provide comprehensive worker training including safe work practices, hazard recognition, and how to respond to or avoid unsafe conditions. 3) Post clearly visible and language-appropriate safety warning labels both inside the cab and on the outside of the shredder above the feed roller.
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Farmers Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accidents Agricultural Machinery Equipment Operators Farm Workers Fatalities Injury Prevention Machine Safety OSHA Region 9 Safety Practices
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Farming ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE21CA002
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  California ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20066282
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 21CA002, 2022 Jul ; :1-9
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2022
• Performing Organization:
  California Department of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fe3cc69bb60d3eaef8276362eb0295a6d71da6477dc3844297cdc27b64dda379c454d626223b0dd3a7b762b02936044e1934d2f5919ced656a96e444a65ddf66
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164856/cdc_164856_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 782.23 KB ]