Retired Teacher/Farmer Dies When Pinned Under Overturned Tractor

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  On August 16, 2005, a 58-year-old male retired teacher/farmer was killed when the 48-year-old restored tractor he was driving overturned to the side and pinned him under the tractor seat and steering wheel. The decedent was mowing an unevenly sloped area between the property's driveway and a bean field with a rotary field mower, commonly known as a brush hog, attached behind the tractor. It appears that while mowing the slope, either the tractor wheel and/or the brush hog struck a stump, causing the tractor and brush hog to turn over to the side. The tractor was not equipped with a rollover protection structure (ROPS)/seat belt. The decedent's wife left the home that morning at 7:30 a.m. and returned home at about 9:00 p.m. Her husband was not home, and she assumed that he went to the county fair. She awoke at 3:00 a.m. and noticed he had left his wallet. She immediately began searching the property and finally found him under the tractor. She called 911. Emergency response arrived and he was declared dead at the scene. Recommendations: 1. Retrofit older tractors with properly designed, manufactured and installed rollover protective structure (ROPS) and seat belt when available. 2. Even if an older tractor has been retrofitted with a ROPS, owners of older (including classic restored) tractors should evaluate the tractor's capability to perform the tasks and evaluate the risks of using such tractors. 3. When trees are cut down in areas where farm equipment and tractors will travel, the stumps should be cut as close to the ground as possible, removed, or ground down. 4. Ensure accessory equipment is properly sized to the tractor. 5. Practice safe work procedures when operating tractors and/or tractors and accessory equipment on slopes or where there may be unseen obstacles.
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Agriculture
  • Engineering
  • Farmers
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Safety Management
  • Workplace
• Keywords:
  • OSHA Region 5
  • Accident-analysis
  • Accident-potential
  • Accident-prevention
  • Accidents
  • Injuries
  • Injury-prevention
  • Safety-education
  • Safety-equipment
  • Safety-practices
  More +
• 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/NIOSHSFACE05MI089
• 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:
  1-9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031892
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-108739
• 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 05MI089, 2007 Apr ; :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:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Resource Number:
  FACE-05MI089
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166271/cdc_166271_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 548.61 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e032020b39d20959b17b34711b68ff13727ebfbb0a8735479a3189cb6f5360307a7734f84c4c13491eb25bf82133ca4e1468db28e19a71199455000582c494d6