Golf Course Worker Dies After Being Pinned Under an Overturned Tee Box Mower.

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  On June 13, 2005, a 19-year-old male golf course worker died after being pinned under an overturned tee box mower. The oval tee box was on a plateau with three gently sloping sides except for the east-side bank, which dropped off 19 feet with a 49-degree slope into trees. The deceased had made three passes in a diagonal motion across the tee box, turning at the edge of the tee green on the collar (longer grass area) after each pass. When he reached the collar area, he raised the reels, turned the mower, and then engaged the reels down. After this third cut, the incident occurred. The back wheel of the mower went over the edge of the collar, and the mower began to slide down the slope. The mower hit a small tree, and the mower overturned. The mower came to rest on top of the deceased at the base of the slope against some trees. A coworker found him under the mower. 911 was called and emergency personnel arrived. They pronounced him dead at the scene. Recommendations: 1. Golf course superintendents should conduct a full, hole-by-hole vehicle rollover risk assessment, measuring slopes and drop heights, in order to determine the best method of machine operation and machinery to be used. 2. Course designers should provide adequate clearance for mowers to operate safely on the perimeter of an elevated tee or green. 3. MIOSHA should consider updating the General Industry Safety Standard Powered Groundskeeping Standard, Part 54 to reflect the updated ANSI B71.4-2004 safety specification standard for commercial turf care equipment. 4. MIOSHA/OSHA should consider requiring a certified operator protection system (such as rollover protection structure (ROPS)/seatbelt) for groundskeeping equipment that could be operated in a location where a rollover potential exists. 5. Riding mower manufacturers are encouraged to develop a ROPS/seatbelt retrofit attachment for existing equipment under 20 HP. 6. Employee training should include review of written material, such as the machine operator's manual. Additionally, MIFACE recommends that: 7. All workers on the course, when working alone, should be equipped with a company-supplied communication device.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Equipment-design Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 5 Protective-equipment Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-practices Safety-programs Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Machine (All) ; Machine - General ; Prevention through Design (PtD)
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE05MI060
• 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:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20034585
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2009-100818
• 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 05MI060, 2007 Jan ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  72 - Accommodation and Food Services - (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-512:74c8cc35fb7cfb2bf87660b52b491a539abe7a89175c7d7b19ca1e36864fbe754c49b861fe402aead1abdff9300957f14f3dd38a402debf41b99e72c91e2dcf7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166182/cdc_166182_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1015.22 KB ]