Farmer Fatally Injured in Tractor Posthole Auger Entanglement

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 35-year-old, male farmer was fatally injured while operating a tractor PTO (power take-off) powered posthole auger. The incident occurred in central Iowa late in the fall of 2005. The victim was working alone in an alfalfa field near his farm home, digging post holes for a fence line. The incident was discovered early the next morning when a neighbor drove by and noticed the stationary tractor with its engine running and no operator in sight. The victim was found about 30 feet (10 m) from the tractor. The posthole auger was still turning about 2 feet (0.6 m) deep in its hole in the ground. Loose dirt at ground level around the auger had been spread away from where the auger entered the ground. A shovel with a broken handle was found at the site and a loose strand of barbed wire snaked along the ground between the tractor and auger. The victim's shirts were wrapped around the top of the auger. There was no guard in place in this area where the auger connects to the gearbox output shaft. The incident resulted in amputation of the victim's right arm and multiple blunt force wounds. He was dead when neighbors found him. RECOMMENDATIONS based on our investigation are as follows: 1. Tractor operators should disengage drive elements and shutoff the tractor's engine before leaving the operator's station. 2. Operators, and others, should stay clear when the posthole digger is in operation. 3. Posthole auger drive elements should be guarded with all shielding in place and functional. Work areas should be clear of slip, trip, and fall hazards.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Farmers Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Agricultural-industry Agricultural-machinery Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention Machine-guarding Machine-operation OSHA Region 7 Protective-equipment Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Tractors Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE05IA075
• 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:20032770
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2008-101582
• 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 05IA075, 2007 Mar ; :1-5
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Performing Organization:
  Iowa Department of Public Health
• 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:bfba6358d22c0aa79412988ae578f3eba0bb9172122407bfb2562a544fe918d3e8fb311da423f4caaaac32ca307c417a0ee853d60afbb7fd8a170137cbf89acb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166241/cdc_166241_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 164.77 KB ]