Massachusetts Tractor Operator Killed While Wheel Harrowing a Tobacco Field

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Massachusetts Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Project (Massachusetts FACE) ; Massachusetts. Department of Public Health
• Description:
  On May 12, 2001, a 64-year-old male, seasonal tractor operator was decapitated while operating a tractor that was pulling a wheel harrow inside a shade tobacco tent. The victim was preparing to turn the tractor around at the edge of a shade tobacco field when his neck came in contact with a wire used to support the netting shading the tobacco plants and decapitated him. After the incident, the tractor continued in the forward direction and circled in the area several times before becoming entangled in the shade netting and wire. A supervisor discovered the victim's body and the entangled tractor. The local police and fire departments, state police, and personnel from the medical examiner's office were notified and responded to the scene within minutes. The medical examiner pronounced the victim dead at the incident site. The Massachusetts FACE Program concluded that to prevent similar occurrences in the future, employers in agricultural operations should: 1. Ensure that modifications to tractors are approved by the manufacturer and do not create additional hazards for the operator and other employees. 2. Select appropriate sized tractors that fit under the shade tents. 3. Conduct routine inspections to ensure that there are no downed or loose wires within the shade tents. 4. Ensure that all tractor operators are trained on the tractors they will use.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Equipment-design Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 1 Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Tractors Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture ; Hispanic - Agricultural
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE01MA016
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; OSHA Region 1
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028511
• 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 01MA016, 2003 Feb ; :1-7
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  Massachusetts Department of 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-512:35389b3ea78b403783c69b01ef7bd0b3def3a69c2a4e0841bbe51bf87ff194a57f3b19143a7046dab5a510957a45ed94489c7f1b73c4e461b8c72ff569760f25
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166586/cdc_166586_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 253.64 KB ]