A 68-year-old male dairy farmer (the victim) died after he was run over by a tractor. He had been driving the tractor in a hayfield with a PTO-powered round baler attached when the baler jammed. The event was unwitnessed, but it appears that he stopped the tractor on the downward slope of a hillside, turned the PTO off, left the tractor running with the transmission in neutral, and dismounted the tractor. The victim may have been reaching for a walking cane he kept next to the tractor seat when the tractor began to roll downhill. Apparently, the left rear wheel dragged him for 15-20 feet before running over his chest. When the farmer failed to return to the farmhouse at the end of the day, his wife drove to the field where he had been working and found him lying unresponsive on the hillside. She attempted CPR, then called for emergency services. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The tractor with the round baler attached was found at the bottom of the hill, with the engine still running. The FACE investigator concluded that, to prevent similar occurrences, farmers and farm workers should: (1) Shift the tractor into park, set the brakes and turn off the engine before dismounting from the tractor. For tractors without a park position, farmers should shift into neutral, set the brakes and turn off the engine before dismounting. (2) Seek and use the services of organizations and agencies that provide technical assistance and/or adaptive equipment to agricultural workers with disabling conditions.
Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) for Wisconsin: Tractor Runs Over Farmer After He Dismounts to Repair Jammed Hay Baler
1996
4 pages
Report
No indication
English
Public Health & Industrial Medicine , Agriculture & Food , Agricultural Equipment, Facilities, & Operations , Administration & Management , Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation , Wisconsin , Farmer (victim) , Jammed Hay Baler , Accident analysis , Tractor , Power take-off Baler , Victim run over , Victim died , Recommendations , Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE)