Farmer dies when skid steer loader rolls over him after it plunged over edge of bluff.
Source
NIOSH 2004 Sep; :1-4
Abstract
On October 22, 2003, a 43 year-old farmer died after his skid steer loader plunged over the edge of a bluff and rolled over him. He was filling in ruts on a dirt road close to the edge of a bluff by his field and planned to cut up a tree that had fallen across the road. He was using a new Case Model 40XT skid steer loader that he had owned about two months. The victim's father came to the farm and realized the victim had not returned home. He took the tractor up to the field to check on the victim and found the skid steer loader lying on its side over the embankment. The victim was lying beside it. The father returned to the house and notified the Emergency Medical System. The sheriff was dispatched within 20 minutes and the emergency personnel were present when he arrived. They detected no signs of life and contacted the County Coroner. The Coroner received the call and pronounced the victim dead at the scene. The seat belt on the skid steer loader was not fastened and the safety restraint bar was up. The chainsaw the victim was going to use to cut the tree was located about 15 yards from the top of the hill lying in the vicinity of the path taken by the skid steer loader. The FACE investigator concluded that to help prevent similar occurrences, farmers should: 1. Always fasten the seat belt and keep the operator's restraint bar down at all times when operating a skid steer loader. 2. Walk around the work area before starting to work and look for hazards. Use extreme caution when operating machinery on or near sloped terrain or embankments and consider doing work by hand where machine use may be too hazardous. 3. Read and follow safe operating procedures for skid steer loaders recommended by the Equipment Manufacturer's Institute (EMI).
Keywords
Region-5; Accident-analysis; Accident-prevention; Accidents; Injuries; Injury-prevention; Traumatic-injuries; Work-operations; Work-analysis; Work-areas; Work-performance; Work-practices; Safety-education; Safety-equipment; Safety-measures; Safety-monitoring; Protective-measures; Farmers; Agricultural-industry; Agricultural-machinery; Agricultural-workers; Agriculture; Equipment-operators; Equipment-reliability; Safety-belts; Personal-protective-equipment; Protective-equipment
Document Type
Field Studies; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation
Funding Type
Cooperative Agreement
NTIS Accession No.
PB2007-100961
Identifying No.
FACE-03WI080; Cooperative-Agreement-Number-U60-CCU-507081
Source Name
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Performing Organization
Wisconsin Department of Health & Family Services
