Fatality Narrative: Orchard Laborer Caught in Tractor-Mounted Post Hole Digger

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On February 21, 2008, a 39-year-old orchard laborer died when he was caught in the power take-off (PTO) shaft of a tractor-mounted post hole digger. The victim worked at an apple orchard where he had been an employee for six years. The victim and a coworker were assigned to auger postholes to support young trees. They were using a tractor-mounted post hole digger to dig two to three foot deep holes. The tractor's PTO shaft rotated at 540 revolutions per minute. As his coworker operated the tractor and PTO shaft, the victim stood behind the tractor and to the side of the post hole digger manipulating the guide lever with his hands to make sure it was boring a straight hole. The right sleeve of the victim's jacket got caught in the unguarded, rotating PTO shaft of the post hole digger, causing his arm to become entangled and severed. He died at the scene. An investigation determined that the manufacturer requires a guard to be used and that individuals stay back 10 feet while the auger is being operated. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Agriculture
  • Education
  • Mortality
  • Occupational Health
  • Safety
  • Staff Development
  • Workplace
• Keywords:
  • Workers
  • Work environment
  • Tractors
  • Agriculture
  • Agricultural workers
  • Agricultural machinery
  • Equipment design
  • Equipment maintenance
  • Equipment operation
  • Equipment reliability
  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:20051648
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-97-2010, 2010 Nov; :1
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: orchard laborer caught in tractor-mounted post hole digger
• End Date:
  20260630
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/228776/cdc_228776_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 150.54 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:43aebe7da39c0f24e07bcc44465e0263fd99d29a3bcaa3c9744e73cad89d4ef577804e73c483fd94ee06a7c475dfe3f5428d989c0283427846be5a93b39daba9