Fatality Narrative: Orchard Tractor Operator Dies When Tractor Rolls Over

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On November 10, 2010, an orchard worker died when the low-profile tractor he was operating rolled. The 66-year-old victim had worked as a tractor operator at the orchard for four years. The orchard, a mixture of apple and cherry trees, was on a hillside. The victim was operating a low-profile tractor with an attachment spreading mouse bait. He started work at 10:30 a.m. and last spoke with his foreman about 2 p.m. The foreman told him to finish spreading the bait in the area he was working, then continue in a block of cherry trees until his 3:30 p.m. quitting time. The cherry trees were 10 feet from each other. The rows were 15 feet apart on a slope varying from 8 to16 degrees. When the victim did not return home his wife contacted the foreman, who sent workers to look for him. At 10:15 p.m., the victim was found deceased beneath the overturned tractor. An investigation determined the tractor had no seatbelt, but did have a manufacturer-installed two-point foldable rollover protective structure (ROPS) that was not deployed and was in the "down" position. The area of the orchard where the victim was working did not have overhead clearance issues and therefore the ROPS should have been used. At the time of the rollover, the tractor was traveling downhill and was equipped with front tires that were light truck tires, not the original tractor tires. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Minerals
  • Mining
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Waste Management
• Keywords:
  • Motor vehiclest
  • Farmers
  • Farm workers
  • Agriculture
  • Agricultural workers
  • Agricultural
  • Agricultural machinery
  • Tractors
  • Rollover protective structures
  • ROPS
  More +
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• 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:20051586
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-108-2012, 2012 Apr; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: orchard tractor operator dies when tractor rolls over
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228765/cdc_228765_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 190.65 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:294462db46b4c602bca1b29fa8f544c5f49c58c3d133d5b49fe5d4a338bc96af4f199d5621a87664e5080ed0ff213a1731bb25bd0f1548d900cc45f957aeda9b