Tractor with Cable Hitched High to Tow Brush Overturned Rearward on Farmer

Details

• Personal Author:
  Madsen, Murray D. ; Rautiainen, Risto
• Corporate Authors:
  Iowa Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (Iowa FACE) ; University of Iowa. College of Public Health. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Description:
  A 56-year-old farmer from east central Iowa died early in the spring of 2003. He was clearing brush, limbs, and fallen trees from along a creek gully at the edge of a pasture on his farm. A strip of level ground separated the creek from a berm that ran parallel to it and hid the work area from view of the farmstead. He was dragging the load toward a burn pile using a braided-wire cable. The cable's other end was hitched high above the drawbar at the rear of his old utility tractor. The front of the skidding load dug into the face of the berm as the tractor pulled forward away from the gulley toward the burn pile. The tractor overturned to the rear pinning the victim under its right rear wheel fender. The farmer was working alone and the overturn was not witnessed. His wife was first on the scene late the same afternoon, hours after the incident. Several fire rescue, ambulance, and law enforcement service providers responded to her call for emergency assistance, extricated the victim, and placed the tractor upright on its wheels. The tractor was subsequently sold, dismantled, and its parts resold. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Follow tractor operator's manual recommendations for proper ballast weight, hitching, and towing techniques when towing heavy loads. 2. A Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) should be installed on all tractors for which ROPS are commercially available and the associated seatbelt used whenever the tractor is being operated.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Farmers Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Agricultural-industry Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 7 Tractors Traumatic-injuries
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture ; Machine (All) ; Machine - Farming
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE03IA022
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20042316
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2013-105513
• 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 03IA022, 2009 Jul ; :1-6
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  University of Iowa
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1992/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3c870702195b0c83f092abbec215e2b7ccb8ab8fec91046e719c8abfcf3a8c2605c76ae7d7806c4edabf1852c9c9e59eea6b4347014cda741c3c27155572e82e
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165168/cdc_165168_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 303.71 KB ]