On July 7, 2001, a 58-year old male part-time farmer died from injuries sustained while spreading manure in a nearby vacant open field with rolling hills. It appears that just after cresting a hill with a full manure spreader, he stopped the tractor, perhaps to retrieve his hat that had blown off of his head. Leaving the tractor running, the front-end loader bucket in the raised position, the dismounted from the tractor. After the victim dismounted, the tractor began to roll down the hill. The sequence of events leading to the fatal injury is unknown. It appears that the victim was run over first by the rear tractor tire and subsequently the manure spreader. The victims hat was located approximately 57 feet from where the victim was found, in the direction of the wind. No one saw the incident. When the victim did not return home, his wife went to look for him. When found, 911 was called. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Recommendations: (1) All tractor operators should follow safe equipment shutdown procedures as described in the operators manual. (2) Equipment owners should maintain equipment in good operating condition. (3) Equipment owners should ensure that all relevant manuals, such as an owners and operators manuals are available for each piece of equipment for the operator to consult for safe operating procedures, service/maintenance, and to ensure that the tractor size and capacity is appropriate for the implement being used.(4) If unattended equipment begins to move, operators should remain clear of its path of travel and not attempt to remount until the equipment has come to a complete stop.
Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Michigan: Farmer Run Over by a Tractor and/or Manure Spreader
2002
12 pages
Report
No indication
English
Public Health & Industrial Medicine , Industrial Safety Engineering , Job Environment , Agricultural Equipment, Facilities, & Operations , Accident investigations , Occupational safety and health , Fatalities , Tractors , Michigan , Traumatic injuries , Agricultural machinery , Manure spreaders , Crushing injuries , Accident prevention , Work practices , Region 5 , Safety engineering , FACE-01-MI-058