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Chores At Times Of Fatal Or Serious Injuries Associated With Tractor Overturns With And Without Rollover Protection, Henry P. Cole, Melvin L. Myers, Susan C. Westneat

Southeast Center for Agricultural Health and Injury Prevention Faculty Publications

This study describes chores when farmers were either fatally or seriously injured and required emergency medical treatment as a result of overturns of tractors with or without rollover protective structures (ROPS). Data from the 2002 Kentucky Farm Tractor Overturn Survey were used for this study. The data were collected by a telephone survey of a population-based random sample of 6063 (7.98%) of Kentucky’s 76,017 farm operators as listed in the Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service database. Of farm operators interviewed, 551 (9.1%) reported 603 overturns and 5512 (90.9%) reported no overturns in the history of their farm, covering a period from …

Retrofitting Tractors With Rollover Protective Structures: Perspective Of Equipment Dealers, Shalome M. Tonelli, Kelley J. Donham, Kerry Leedom-Larson, Wayne Sanderson, Mark A. Purschwitz

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

This study was one of a cluster of studies that originated via requests for proposals from the NIOSH National Agricultural Tractor Safety Initiative. The present study design consisted of several steps: (1) formation of an advisory group, (2) development and testing of a standard paper self-responding survey instrument, (3) sample selection of farm equipment dealers, (4) administration of the survey, (5) assessment and analysis of the survey, and (6) in-person response panel of dealers (n = 80) to review results of the questionnaire for further definition and sharpening of the recommendations from the survey. A key finding is that most …

Fatal Tractor Overturns: Don't Let Them Roll Over You!, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Kentucky Haz Alerts--Tractors/Logging

To prevent tractor injuries:

• All tractors should be equipped with a Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) and a seat belt.
• Tractors should be equipped with front-end counterweights and tractor wheels
• should be weighted to increase stability.
• Community farm safety training with safe operating procedures and hazard identification should be offered to novice or limited- experience operators.

Farmer Killed When Tractor Punctures Gas Line Causing An Explosion, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 62-year-old male was killed when the tractor he was operating punctured an aboveground gas line. He had recently moved to the area and was in the process of acquiring some land for farming. The land was overgrown with weeds and brush about 5 feet high. On a warm, clear afternoon he went out to clear the land with a tractor and rotary mower. Although the incident was unwitnessed, apparently he began mowing the field near a roadway and was likely on the third pass when the front of the tractor ran into an aboveground valve of a natural gas …

Farm Tractor Safety In Kentucky, 1995, Steven R. Browning, Susan C. Westneat, Helena Truszczynska, Deborah Reed, Robert Mcknight

Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Objective: Tractor rollovers are a major cause of farm injuries and fatalities. The authors used data from a statewide surveillance study to estimate the prevalence of safety features such as rollover protective structures, seat belts, and power take-off shields on farm tractors in Kentucky.

Methods: Using data from the Farm Family Health and Hazard Surveillance Project, the authors report on the prevalence of farm tractor safety features by size of farm, by region of the state, by number of tractors per farm, and by tractor age and estimate the prevalence of tractors equipped with rollover protection by region and for …

Tractor Driver Killed In Overturn While Mowing, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 44-year-old farm owner was killed when the tractor he was driving overturned. Using a rotary mower attached to a Ford 600 tractor, the farmer was mowing an area along the gravel road leading to his home in a very remote area of the county. On the east side was a fence and on the west a brush covered embankment. At the top of the seven-foot embankment was a sloping field that had been mowed earlier in the season. The tractor, having been purchased six weeks earlier, had undergone maintenance work but was not equipped with a Roll Over Protective …

Tractor Operator Killed By Rotary Mower While Mowing Highway Right-Of-Way, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 23-year-old male (the victim) was killed when he fell from the tractor he was operating and was run over by the attached rotary mower. The victim had been mowing near an interstate highway on-ramp at about 1:15 pm, when his right front tractor wheel hit a concrete drainage culvert, apparently jolting him off, into the path of the mower. Although he was working with a crew, none of his co-workers witnessed the event. A passing commercial truck driver saw the victim fall, pulled over, and called emergency medical services (EMS) on his cellular phone. EMS personnel arrived within minutes …

66-Year-Old Male Dies In Tractor Overturn While Mowing, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 66-year-old male (the victim) was killed while mowing his farm land. He was driving a Case tractor model 1212 with a front-end loader and 4-foot rotary mower attachments. The tractor had a homemade canopy attached for sun protection but it was not intended to function as a Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS). Tracks in the field show that he had made several passes and had likely worked for about three hours when the incident occurred. It was about 1 p.m. when he began mowing along the edge of the woods that bordered the field. Although the field was relatively flat, …

Farmer Run Over By Tractor, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

An 80-year-old male farmer (the victim) died when he was run over by the right rear wheel of his tractor. He had backed the tractor to the door of a shed in order to hook a tiller to it. After parking the tractor on a slight incline in front of the shed, he left it in neutral while he went inside for the tiller. The parking brake did not hold, however, and the tractor began to roll. He apparently noticed this and tried to remount the tractor, but was knocked down by the wheel and run over. To prevent similar …

Farmer Crushed When Run Over By Tractor And Disc, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 75-year-old farmer was killed when he was run over by a tractor and disc attachment. The farmer attempted to start the engine on a tractor while he stood on the ground beside it, a practice which was not unusual for him. The transmission had been left in gear and when the ignition was started the tractor lurched forward knocking the victim to the ground. The tractor continued to move forward, running over the victim. His wife went to search for him when she realized he had been gone from the house for quite some time. She found him in …

Use Of Rollover Protective Structures -- Iowa, Kentucky, New York, And Ohio, 1992-1997, Craig Zwerling, Leon Burmeister, S. Reynolds, Robert H. Mcknight, Steven R. Browning, Deborah Reed, John Wilkins Iii, T. Bean, L. Mitchell, Eric Hallman, John J. May, A. Stark

Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Agriculture has one of the highest occupational fatality rates of all industries in the United States (1). Tractors and other types of agricultural equipment account for a large proportion of these fatalities, and farm-tractor rollovers account for approximately 130 work-related deaths each year in the United States (2). Although rollover protective structures (ROPS) are effective in protecting tractor operators from fatal injuries during rollovers (3-5), most tractors in the United States are not equipped with ROPS (4-7). Beginning in 1985, tractor manufacturers in the United Sates agreed to sell only tractors with ROPS; however, many older tractors without ROPS remain …

Rear Tractor Rollover Kills Farmer, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 67-year-old male farmer (the victim) died when the tractor he was operating flipped over backward, pinning him between it and another tractor. He and his 13-year-old grandson had been working with a tractor and rotary mower, but got stuck in the mud of a creek bed; approximately one-third of the rear tractor tires were buried in mud. He had gotten a second tractor, attached a chain from the rear of it to the front of the first tractor, and had just begun to try and pull the tractor out when the incident occurred. From evidence at the scene it …

Farmer Killed When Tractor Slides Over Embankment While Mowing, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 56-year-old part-time farmer was killed when the tractor he was driving overturned while mowing. Using a rotary mower attached to the John Deere 1520 tractor, the farmer mowed an area near the roadway that had a gradual downward slope. The tractor was not equipped with a Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) or seatbelt. After mowing two rows, he made a left turn to begin the third pass when the back tire began to slip in the moist soil underneath the grass. Due to the momentum and weight of the tractor and attachment, the farmer was unable to stop the vehicle. …

!!Tractor Hazard Alert!!, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Kentucky Haz Alerts--Tractors/Logging

Since January, at least six Kentucky farmers have been killed in tractor rollovers in which terrain changes caused by recent heavy rainfalls were a factor. In addition to mud and wet, slick grass, the rain created marshy areas and holes where none had been before; often these places are invisible due to weeds and tall grass.

Farmer Killed When Tractor Overturns On Embankment, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 44-year-old cattle farmer was killed when the tricycle tractor he was operating overturned. As was his usual practice, the victim had backed the tractor out of the shed near his home, turned to the right and was driving forward, down the embankment to the road which led to the highway. His cattle barn and pasture were located a short distance from his house (1-2 miles), and he regularly drove the tractor there to tend the cattle. On this day, however, the tractor flipped as he came over the embankment, rolling onto the victim. He died at the scene. In …

Mill Owner Dies In Tractor Rollover, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 51-year-old mill owner (the victim) was killed while pulling a 16-foot log from the woods. He had reached the top of a 10-12-degree slope, turned slightly to the left and stopped, when the tractor he was driving turned over. It landed on the victim and then rolled again. The victim's partner, who was with him, ran to a nearby house where he had seen two men working outdoors earlier. He asked them to call 911 and then returned with a backhoe with which to lift the tractor. While he was doing this, emergency medical services (EMS) personnel arrived. The …

Farmer Killed When Crushed By Tractor, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 70-year-old farmer (the victim) was killed while mowing his pasture. He had completed mowing around the top of a ridge, and was beginning to mow the sloping sections, when the power take-off (PTO) shaft connecting the rotary mower (bushhog) to the tractor came off. When he attempted to re-attach the shaft, the tractor began to roll down the steep slope; he lost control as it descended into the hollow. Apparently he attempted to jump from the left side of the tractor and his right foot became wedged between the high/low shift lever; as a result his body went under …

Retired Farmer Thrown From And Run Over By Tractor, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 67-year-old retired farmer (the victim) was killed while mowing a field of the family farm. He had made several passes around the field using a rotary mower recently equipped with new blades by his son. At one end of the field was an approximate 20-foot hill of 15-degree slope. The top of this hill was a plateau across which the tractor could be driven in order to ascend at the end which was less steep. The victim had come close to rolling the tractor over in the past, and so it was never his practice to mow across the …

Farmer Killed In Tractor Rollover [96ky088], Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

On August 22, 1996, a 75-year-old farmer was killed when the tractor he was operating rolled over onto him. He was using a 1979 IH Farm all 140, towing a flatbed wagon along the perimeter of a tobacco patch. As he turned left to proceed around the field, the left tractor wheels went over an embankment, causing the tractor to roll over. The victim was crushed under the rear wheel of the overturned tractor and died of traumatic asphyxia due to chest injuries. He was discovered by his son two hours after the incident when he did not return to …

Farmer Killed When Thrown From Tractor, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 79-year-old farmer (the victim) was killed while driving his tractor. He had been a full-time farmer who lived alone and farmed on the 136-acre land nearly all of his life; the main commodity was beef cattle. As was his usual practice, he was working alone on the day of the incident. Every evening he had dinner with his two sisters who lived in a house on the same property about 50 yards from his home. When he did not show up for the evening meal, they went out to look for him. They found that he had taken the …

Farm Worker Killed In Tractor Rollover On Public Roadway, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 21-year-old farm worker was killed in a tractor rollover incident. The victim was driving a tractor on a secondary public road, pulling an unloaded 18-foot flatbed trailer, when he lost control. After the tractor wheels went off the right side of the road, the victim overcorrected, which caused the vehicle to become unbalanced; he was thrown from the tractor as it overturned into a ditch. It was not equipped with an appropriate rollover protective structure (ROPS) or a seatbelt. The unit, which included a canopy, had been installed to provide shade on summer days and cover in occasional downpours, …

Farmer Is Run Over By Disc After Falling From Tractor, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

Because access to the scene and inspection of the equipment were not possible in this case, a partial inspection was done. Conclusions cannot be drawn from the evidence collected.

A 68-year-old farmer died when he fell from his tractor into the path of an attached disc. The victim had begun discing a tobacco field about 3:00 p.m., minutes after his wife and son left for second-shift work at a factory. After completing one field, he proceeded to a second field to complete the afternoon's work. The second field was across a small galley. As the victim drove the tractor through …

Farmer Killed In Tractor Rollover [95ky039], Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 66-year-old male farmer was killed in a tractor rollover incident. The victim was discing a small tobacco plot near his home when he lost control of his tractor. It went over an embankment, rolled one-half turn and landed on the victim before rolling further down the embankment. It was not equipped with a rollover protective structure (ROPS) or a seatbelt; its brakes were inoperable. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner. In order to prevent similar incidents, the KY FACE investigator concluded that:

• tractors should be retrofitted with Roll Over Protective Structures and seatbelts; …

Farmer Killed After Tractor Overturns Into Creek Bed, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 47-year-old farmer/chemical analyst was killed when his tractor overturned into a muddy creek bed. The victim was checking a fence line on his property, which in that area has a rough, uneven terrain and on that day was very wet from a thunderstorm the previous night. He was going up an incline when his tractor slid backwards in the mud; the back tire slipped over the edge of a steep embankment and the tractor rolled over into the creek bed, pinning him face down in the mud. The tractor was not equipped with a Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) …

Farmer Run Over After Falling From Tractor, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 54-year-old male farmer was killed in a tractor runover incident. The victim was on his way to his tobacco field when he lost control of his tractor. After it left the road, he fell and was run over by the right rear tire and possibly the edge of the attached plow. The three-year-old tractor was equipped with a seatbelt, but it was not fastened. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner. In order to prevent similar incidents, the KY FACE investigator concluded that:

• Tractor operators should always wear seatbelts;
• Tractor operators should pay close …

Farm-Tractor-Related Fatalities -- Kentucky, 1994, T. W. Struttmann, Carl Spurlock, Susan H. Pollack, E. Moon-Hampton, Steven R. Browning, Robert Mcknight, Reginald Finger

Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center Faculty Publications

Fatalities associated with farm tractors are the most common cause of work-related death in the U.S. agricultural industry (1). To characterize farm-tractor-related fatalities in Kentucky, the Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (KY FACE) Project studied all fatal farm injuries occurring among persons in that state during 1994, the initial year of operation for FACE in Kentucky. This report summarizes the results of that study.

Retiree Dies In Tractor Rollover, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 63-year-old retired bus driver was pinned underneath a rear tractor tire after it overturned while he was bush hogging. The 37-year-old tricycle tractor, not equipped with a ROPS or a seatbelt, had a bush hog attached. On the morning of the incident, the operator and his brother were mowing a portion of a pasture. At about 9:30 am, the victim started mowing at the bottom of a steep slope, and then progressed toward the top of the ridge. In order to make turns he had to circle around three dogwood trees at the top of the ridge. His brother …

Prison Employee Killed In Tractor Rollover, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 36-year-old male prison recreation director was killed in a tractor rollover incident. The victim was driving the tractor down a sloping, S-curved driveway when he lost control. The tractor went over an embankment, rolled one-half turn, and came to rest on the victim. It was not equipped with a Rollover Protective Structure (ROPS) or a seatbelt. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner. In order to prevent similar incidents, the KY FACE investigators concluded that:

• Tractors should be retrofitted with Roll Over Protective Structures and seatbelts.
• Employers should provide tractor operation training by safety …

Farmer Killed When Run Over By Tractor In Barn, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 62-year-old male farmer was killed inside his barn on a Saturday afternoon after starting his tractor from a standing position. The victim was demonstrating recent repairs to the tractor for his brother-in-law; a new battery and starter had been installed. Standing beside the tractor, the victim reached for the ignition switch to turn the tractor on. The tractor was in gear; when he turned the key the tractor lurched forward, running over the victim, who died moments later. The KY FACE investigators concluded that, to prevent similar occurrences, farmers and other tractor operators should:

• Never attempt to start a …

Retiree Dies After Tractor Overturns Into Creek, Kentucky Injury Prevention And Research Center

Fatality Case Reports--Tractors/Logging

A 58-year-old retired factory worker and part-time farmer was killed when the tractor he was operating overturned into a creek and pinned him. At the time of the incident, the victim was mowing a pasture along a creek bed. The tractor was not equipped with a Roll Over Protective Structure (ROPS) or a seat belt. Attached to the tractor was a five foot bush hog. About 3:00 pm the day of the incident, the victim began mowing a 30 acre bottom land pasture by entering a gate at the east of the pasture. The victim drove in a westward direction …