On October 1, 2002, a 73-year old male farm hand died of injuries he sustained when he was run over by a tractor. He was starting the tractor while standing on the ground in front of one of the rear wheels. The victim had been operating the tractor earlier in the day using a front-end loader with forks to lift 1/2 ton fruit tanks onto a flatbed truck. After he was finished, he took the tractor to the shop. The forklift hydraulics were drifting during the loading operation and he may have been attempting to adjust the forklift position when he started the tractor. While standing on the ground in front of the rear tire, he pressed down on the clutch and started the tractor. The tractor was left in gear and the tractors rear wheel ran over the victim, causing crushing injuries to his pelvis. He was found by another employee and taken to the hospital for surgery and stabilization. The next day, a blood clot developed and he died. Recommendations: (1) Tractors should only be started when the operator is on the tractor platform sitting in the operators seat. (2) Employers should provide annual operator training to tractor operators. (3) A farm safety plan should be established for the agricultural operation that includes work rules such as starting the tractor from a seated position on the operators platform.
Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Michigan: Farm Hand Run Over by Tractor While Starting the Tractor While Standing On the Ground
2003
5 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
Public Health & Industrial Medicine , Environmental & Occupational Factors , Agriculture & Food , Accident analysis , Farmers , Fatalities , Michigan , Tractors , Crushing injuries , Blood clots , Forklifts , NIOSH , Accident investigations , Occupational safety and health , Worker safety , FACE-02-MI-140