Orchard Tractor Operator Dies When Run Over by Rotary Mower After Falling From Tractor

Details

• Personal Author:
  Clark, Randy ; Rappin, Christina ; Schoonover, Todd
• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (WA FACE) ; Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries ; Washington (State). Safety and Health Assessment and Research for Prevention
• Description:
  In April of 2013, an orchard worker died when he was run over by a rotary mower after he fell from the tractor it was attached to. The victim was using the tractor and mower attachment to cut the grass between rows of pear trees. The incident was not witnessed, but investigators believe that it is most probable that he fell when he attempted to dismount the tractor to retrieve his hat that may have been knocked off by a low hanging branch. He likely either failed to put the tractor in neutral when he stopped, causing the tractor to lurch forward when he removed his foot from the clutch pedal, or inadvertently moved the gear selector lever out of neutral as he stood up to dismount the tractor. In either scenario, it is assumed that the sudden or unexpected movement of the tractor caused him to fall to the ground between the tractor and the mower. As the tractor continued to move forward, the victim's upper body was run over by the 1740 lb. mower. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Injuries Injury-prevention Machine-operation Machine-operators OSHA Region 10 Safety-measures Safety-practices Tractors Training Traumatic-injuries Work-areas Workers

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture ; Hispanic - Agricultural ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Farming ; Foreign Born Workers ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE13WA015
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Washington ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20050183
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2018-100074
• 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 13WA015, 2017 May ; :1-11
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2021/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:80bd4fb9b2dd4b2262465292b31f63299d35b306d903f3691390a787e31c0c1d456c35c1f66ee2cf0d384f265b21afbb1d41465053b31431c0e7030746ece899
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164997/cdc_164997_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.53 MB ]