Fatality Narrative: Dairy Laborer Dies When Loader Falls into Manure Pit

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  In February 2015, a 27-year-old dairy laborer operating a loader drowned when the loader fell into a manure pit. The victim was an experienced dairy worker who previously had operated loaders at other farms. He had been working for 6 months at his employer's dairy farm. His job duties included operating a loader to bring feed to cows in a pen and helping with milking. He had been trained by his supervisor how to operate the loader. He worked the night shift from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Prior to the incident he was working alone operating the loader to push feed to the penned cows. When he finished his task, he drove the loader along a dirt road on the employer's property that would take him to the milking area, where he would spend the rest of his shift. On the way, he turned off the road away from his destination and travelled across a field back toward the cow pen. It is unknown why he went toward the pen. In the field between the road and the pen, there was an unfenced, unmarked ground level manure pit. This manure pit was 50 feet long by 15 feet wide and 4-to 6-feet deep. As he was driving in a 15-footwide area between the pit and fence, the loader tipped over into the pit. It landed on its side, submerging the operator's cab. The victim drowned. The coroner reported to the media that he had methamphetamine in his system. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Agriculture Automobiles Farmers Mortality Occupational Health Safety Substance-Related Disorders Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident Prevention Agricultural Agricultural Industry Agricultural Workers Drug Abuse Drugs Equipment Operation Farm Workers Fatalities Injuries Methamphetamine Motor Vehicles Traumatic Injuries Work Environment Workers

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• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051406
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-153-2016, 2016 Nov; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2017
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: dairy laborer dies when loader falls into manure pit
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3726f83ae3cc7b0d61d516fa5000216085dce262b18491bb51d18078cd9a2764cfff20a8fb5609753e9193a486ba276e1264ffd4adcb863e9635477a799ac5c8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228729/cdc_228729_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 834.19 KB ]