Farm Worker Dies of Burn-Related Injuries while Trapped in a Burning Hay Baler - Oklahoma

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Oklahoma Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (OKFACE) ; Oklahoma. State Department of Health ; Oklahoma. Injury Prevention Service
• Description:
  A 17-year-old male died when he became trapped in a hay baler that caught fire. The farm worker was working alone baling dried wheat straw for hay. Evidence suggests that the round hay baler became jammed (plugged), and the clutch temporarily shut down the power take-off device (PTO). The worker apparently climbed on top of the baler to clear the jammed wheat straw by using his feet. The jam cleared, and the clutch put the PTO back into motion. The baler rollers suddenly started moving and trapped the worker's leg inside the baler. The rollers and belts spinning around the hay started a fire. A neighbor passed the field, noticed the fire, and notified the worker's father of the fire. The worker's father notified the fire department and went to the field. The father uncoupled the baler and moved the tractor away from the burning hay baler. The father then found his son (the worker) suspended in the baler. The worker died at the scene from smoke inhalation and burns. FACE investigators concluded that, to prevent similar occurrences, employers (including persons who are self-employed) should: 1. ensure that safe work practices are followed, including disengaging the PTO and shutting off the engine prior to working on agricultural machinery
  
  2. ensure that machinery is maintained and operated according to manufacturer's specifications, including adjusting the baler pick-up height for correct ground clearance and adjusting the ground speed with the crop conditions and windrow size
  
  and 3. provide workers who work alone with a means of remote communication for use in cases of emergency.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Burns Farmers Fires Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Agricultural-industry Agricultural-machinery Agricultural-workers Equipment-operators Equipment-reliability Fire-hazards Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 6 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 ; Youth ; Youth Agriculture
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE98OK025
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Oklahoma ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-4
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20027735
• 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 98OK025, 1998 Dec ; :1-6
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1999
• Performing Organization:
  Oklahoma State Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1997/07/01
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d609ba97702bb301f603adbe4825a5e1afee0a884913a7dab48c4b41a6cc88236831a65d76455f89e6ac96ecedcf896905bc45e6e9e107efc9c633a4bb65713b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167065/cdc_167065_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 148.72 KB ]