On August 31, 2002, a 70-year old male part-time farmer was fatally injured when his 30 year old Farm-All 656 tractor equipped with a front-end loader rolled over on top of him while traveling on a public road. The tractor was not equipped with a roll-over protection structure (ROPS). At approximately 6:00pm, he left his farm and drove the tractor on a paved, asphalt, 2-lane road with a narrow paved shoulder that went up a hill to help his neighbor. Hidden by grass/weed growth approximately 5-6 feet from the paved right shoulder of the road was a steep 3-foot ditch. He had traveled eastbound up the hill approximately 500 feet when he left the right shoulder and attempted to re-enter the roadway. He was unable to re-enter the roadway and the tractor wheels entered the ditch. The tractor flipped over, probably striking the victim as it overturned and pinning him under the tractor. A passing motorist saw the overturned tractor and called 911. Emergency response arrived and the victim was declared dead at the scene. Toxicology results indicated an elevated blood alcohol level of 0.29 grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood and 0.16 grams of alcohol per 67 liters of urine. Recommendations: (1) Tractors should be equipped with roll-over protection structure (ROPS) and seat belt; the local county extension agent, local equipment dealer or equipment manufacturer should be contacted to see if a retro-fit ROPS/seat belt system is available. (2) Equipment operators should not consume alcohol before operating the equipment.
Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Michigan: Farmer Killed When His Tractor Leaves Public Road Shoulder and Overturns Into a Ditch
2003
6 pages
Report
No indication
English
Public Health & Industrial Medicine , Environmental & Occupational Factors , Agriculture & Food , Accident analysis , Rollover accidents , Farmers , Fatalities , Michigan , Agricultural machinery , NIOSH , Seat belts , Alcohol blood tests , Tractors , Road shoulders , Accident investigations , Occupational safety and health , Worker safety , FACE-02-MI-120 , Farm-All tractors