Farmer Dies When he is Pinned Under Drawbar While Fueling Tractor

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Wisconsin Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program (Wisconsin FACE) ; Wisconsin. Division of Public Health. Bureau of Occupational Health
• Description:
  A 91 year-old beef farmer (the victim) was pinned under the drawbar of a farm tractor after fueling the tractor while standing on a stepladder. The fuel cap was located on top of the tractor, about 65 inches high, midway from the front to the operator's seat. The farmer's habit was to place a 4-foot ladder on the tractor body in front of the left rear tire, climb two or three steps with the fuel pump in hand, remove the cap, fill the tank, replace the cap, and climb down the ladder. On the day of the incident, he apparently replaced the cap after adding the fuel, and fell toward the tractor wheel, striking the shift lever and throwing the tractor into a forward gear. As the tractor began to roll forward, the victim and the ladder rolled up and over the left fender and fell upside down. The victim was caught between the left rear wheel and under a drawbar attachment, while the tractor rolled forward about 6 feet until it was stopped when it struck a block wall. The victim was found by his sister-in-law, who went to the farm to investigate when the victim did not answer phone calls for several days. She immediately called for emergency services and notified the victim's neighbor and brother. EMS responders and the sheriff arrived within 15 minutes. The coroner was called, and pronounced the victim dead at the scene. The FACE investigator concluded that to help prevent similar occurrences, farmers should: 1. Shift the tractor into park, set the brakes and turn off the engine before dismounting from the tractor. For tractors without a park position, farmers should shift into neutral, set the brakes and turn off the engine before dismounting. 2. Seek and follow medical advice and take precautions to prevent falls if they have medical conditions that could cause loss of balance.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program
  
  not printed on the report.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Farmers Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Agricultural-industry Agricultural-machinery Agricultural-processes Agricultural-workers Equipment-operators Equipment-reliability Injuries Injury-prevention Ladders OSHA Region 5 Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Step-ladders Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-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/NIOSHSFACE00WI113
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Wisconsin ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  3 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20028183
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2008-113725
• 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 00WI113, 2001 Jan ; :1-3
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• Performing Organization:
  Wisconsin Department of Health & Family Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:61082ae8bcc8cf7c7ad3d748ed6c84821de15d8230f16b2bf56f2e26a9a3f70bec6ff7f2e519009766e586e7511ca95bd7277a6faa8f97632b0f2be6efafff32
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/166872/cdc_166872_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 75.86 KB ]