Farmer Died When Clothing Was Entangled in a Rotating Power Take Off Shaft

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  A 54-year old female farmer was killed in the fall of 2016 when her clothing became entangled in the unguarded rotating power take off (PTO) shaft of a tractor she was using to power a corn elevator. She and the owner were using a PTO driveline to power a corn elevator, which in turn was used to transfer corn from a wagon into a corncrib. Once the elevator was running and the decedent had begun to unload the corn from the wagon onto the elevator, she suggested to the owner that he go harvest more corn while she continued by herself. About 20 minutes after the owner returned to the field to continue harvesting corn, the owner's brother discovered the body of the decedent. The decedent's clothing had become caught in the gear of the rotating power shaft where it connected to the corn elevator, leading to further entanglement of the decedent and extensive trauma. No part of the PTO driveline was guarded or shielded. Emergency response was called and the decedent was declared dead at the scene. MIFACE identified the following key and possibly contributing factors: 1. The entire power take off driveline, including the PTO stub on the tractor, the shaft, and the point of connection to the corn elevator were all unguarded during operation. 2. Best safety practices regarding PTO operation were not observed
  
  clothing with loose sleeves should not be worn and a task should not be performed while standing near and/or stepping over a rotating PTO shaft. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Cover the entire power take off driveline, including the PTO stub on the tractor, the shaft, and the point of connection with shield or guards in good working condition whenever they are being operated. Figure 1: The PTO-driven corn elevator and corncrib. 2. Workers operating the tractor, and/or the equipment being powered by the PTO, should not wear loose-fitting clothing, clothing items or shoes with hanging strings, or dangling jewelry. 3. Farmworkers, family, or anyone else working with farm machinery should be educated regarding PTO-related safety issues and best practices.
  
  
• Content Notes:
  Date supplied by FACE Program. Publication date not indicated on resource.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Farmers Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Agricultural Agricultural Machinery Agricultural Workers Author Keywords: Agriculture Entanglement Equipment Design Equipment Operators Equipment Reliability Fatalities Machine Machinery OSHA Region 5 Power Takeoff Power Take Off PTO Tractor Tractors

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Farming ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE16MI149
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20053096
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2019-100103
• 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 16MI149, 2018 Apr ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2018
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• 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-512:3455a223d30c98e02548ee7b36e30dfbfa3415e1ec20bf94f6bb5a449aa9b3c8f4ea00f9f71161b87a30ceb0e5f41cf10397af37a1047987bc28e0a135888d1d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164965/cdc_164965_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 785.90 KB ]