A 50-year-old male farmer (victim) died from injuries sustained when he became entangled in the unloading beaters of a forage wagon. On the day of the incident, the victim was cleaning pieces of bark from the wagon that was used during the winter months to store cut firewood. It was equipped with a power-take-off driven unloading mechanism that operated three unloading beaters mounted across the front of the wagon. The victim hooked the forage wagon to the drawbar of a farm tractor and drove onto a field driveway near the farm yard. He connected the wagon's power-take-off shaft to the tractor and engaged the tractor's power-take-off to remove bark and debris from the wagon. While inside the wagon, he contacted the rotating unloading beaters and became entangled in them. The tractor's engine was idling at a slow speed and stopped when the victim became entangled. Approximately 45 minutes after the victim began to clean the wagon, he was discovered by his son. A 911 phone call was immediately made to emergency medical personnel. They arrived shortly after being notified and removed the victim from the wagon. He was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead by the attending physician. MN FACE investigators concluded that, in order to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed: (1) operators should turn off the engine and remove the key before dismounting from a tractor; (2) operators should disengage the power-take-off before dismounting from a tractor; and (3) operators should not wear loose-fitting clothing near or while operating machines.


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    Title :

    Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Minnesota: Farmer Dies After Becoming Entangled in the Unloading Beaters of a Forage Wagon


    Publication date :

    1996


    Size :

    4 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English