Scalping Incidents Involving Hay Balers – New York

Details

• Journal Article:
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• Personal Author:
  Casey, G. ; Melius, James M. ; Roerig, S.
• Description:
  Accidents involving traumatic avulsion of the scalp (scalping) caused by hay baling machines were summarized. The incidents occurred in New York State between June 1976 and July 1991 and involved four females, 30, 42, 42, and 47 years (yr) old, whose hair was caught in hay baling machinery. The baling machines had been manufactured in the 1970s. The accidents were investigated by the Agricultural Health Nurse Program of New York. In each case, the victim's hair became entangled in the secondary driveline shaft that powered the baler. The power take off (PTO) shaft that transmitted power to the baler had not been disengaged. In an editorial note, the incidence of fatal injuries associated with entanglement in PTOs or similar rotating drivelines on agricultural machinery was discussed. The secondary drivelines on the hay balers involved in the scalping incidents were shielded on top; however, the shield design, an inverted U-shape, did not completely enclose the secondary driveline. Recommendations for preventing future incidents included urging operators of such equipment to follow the manufacturer's safety recommendations, not modify or bypass or remove any of the safety guards or other safety equipment installed by the manufacturer, and inspecting the machines periodically to determine if any unguarded areas exist and correcting any problems found. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Case Reports Nervous System Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Agricultural-machinery Agricultural-workers Case-studies Head-injuries NIOSH-Author Occupational-accidents Traumatic-injuries
• Series:
  Weekly Report: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
• ISSN:
  0149-2195 (print) ; 1545-861X (digital)
• Publisher:
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (U.S.)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• Volume:
  41
• Issue:
  27
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00232215
• Citation:
  MMWR 1992 Jul; 41(27):489-491
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1992
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:91c05e3bd9ddb2584d367cfd99c3b32d2600358c2ceb625e55014fd978a038fd800130dc2fb64e2e3ad74a9aec66b711fc8e651f88f83fa71437c5c7ac34977f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/183284/cdc_183284_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 385.36 KB ]