Statistics and Epidemiology of Tractor FatalitiesâA Historical Perspective (original) (raw)
Related papers
Evaluation of Farm Tractor-Related Fatalities
Farm tractors are the major cause of occupational fatalities in agricultural regions. Fatalities typically result from being run over or crushed by the tractor, becoming entangled in the moving parts of the tractor, accidents on roadways, and tractor rollovers, which involve the tractor tipping sideways or backwards and crushing the operator. In this study, tractor-related fatalities in the Konya province of Turkey are retrospectively evaluated. Out of the 3940 cases on which a death examination and/or autopsy was performed between the years 2000 and 2007 at The Konya Branch of Forensic Medicine Council, 86 (2.2%) of the death cases were caused by tractor accidents and are included in this study. The ages of the victims varied between 3 and 80 years old with a mean age of 31.7 + or - 22.3. Sixty-eight (79.1%) of the cases involved males, while 18 (20.9%) of the cases involved females. In 32 (37.2%) of the cases, the deaths due to tractor accidents occurred when the tractor overturned. In 37 (43.0%) of the cases, the tractor-related fatalities involved the passengers and the drivers were involved in 34 (39.5%) of the cases. In conclusion, tractor accidents are preventable and deaths from tractor accidents can be significantly reduced if drivers are required to wear safety belts and helmets and frequent checks are implemented to enforce the ban on carrying passengers.
Frequency and Severity of Injuries to Operators During Overturns of Farm Tractors
Journal of agricultural safety and health, 2006
Previous estimates of operator death from farm tractor overturn events range from 0.03 to 0.68. This study provided population-based estimates of the denominator of total farm tractor overturns and the frequency of six classes of overturn injury outcomes for tractors with and without rollover protective structures (ROPS). A 40-item telephone survey collected information from a random sample of 6,063 (8.0%) Kentucky farms about each farm's most recent overturn.
Tractor-Related Injuries: An Analysis of Workers’ Compensation Data
Journal of Agromedicine, 2009
The purpose of this article was to provide a review of the published literature pertaining to agricultural All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) use and injury, fatality, exposure assessment, risk estimation and interventions. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) technique was used to identify high quality relevant articles pertaining to ATV-related injury, fatality, exposure assessment, risk estimation, and interventions in an agricultural setting. Inclusion criteria for articles included publications from January 1, 2000 through August 31, 2016, use of injury epidemiology assessment tools, NIOSH hierarchy of controls and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Logic Model Development Guide. Thirty-four articles met the full inclusion criteria. There have been more than 14,000 ATV-related fatalities since 1982 and a 90% increase in related hospitalizations between the years 2000 to 2005. Occupational ATV-related fatality rates have increased by 300% between 1992 and 2007; with the greatest burden seen in the agricultural sector. Risk factors for ATV-related injury and fatality include riding with passengers, riding on public roadways, riding adult-sized ATVs as a child, lack of formal training, lack of crush protection devices, riding at high speeds, driving up or down hills, traversing hills and modifying ATVs. There are five general types of interventions used to increase ATV safety behaviors and decrease injuries: engineering controls, computer simulations, laws, training and education. The United States lacks consistency in regulations and laws, while Australia is implementing rollover protection for existing ATVs and the Star Rating method, 'fit for use' classification system, to help inform consumers about making the best choices for safer and appropriate use. Abbreviations The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) collected data on 14,129 All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) related fatalities from 1982 through 2015 [1]. The popularity of ATVs has increased with post-recession sales up 2.2%, supporting an estimated 730,000 units sold in 2015 [2]. In 2017, the ATV Safety Institute (ASI) estimated that 35 million Americans ride 11 million ATVs in the United States (U.S.) [3].
1981
Overturns and Extra Riders Each piece of machinery you have on your farm today has some chance of being involved in an accident. The tractor, because of its enormous power and frequent and varied use, is a major source of injuries and fatalities. At least 450 lives are lost on farms each year because of tractor accidents, and many other people are seriously injured. Overturns result in more than half of all tractor-related fatalities. Extra riders falling from tractors are another frequent cause of fatalities, since nearly two-thirds of those who fall are run over. Overturns Side overturns account for approximately 80 percent of all tractor overturns. Rear overturns and, to a very small extent, forward overturns make up the remaining 20 percent.
Safety, 2016
This study describes chores when farmers were either fatally or seriously injured and required emergency medical treatment as a result of overturns of tractors with or without rollover protective structures (ROPS). Data from the 2002 Kentucky Farm Tractor Overturn Survey were used for this study. The data were collected by a telephone survey of a population-based random sample of 6063 (7.98%) of Kentucky's 76,017 farm operators as listed in the Kentucky Agricultural Statistics Service database. Of farm operators interviewed, 551 (9.1%) reported 603 overturns and 5512 (90.9%) reported no overturns in the history of their farm, covering a period from 1925 to February 2002. Only the latest overturn was considered to improve recall accuracy. In addition, since the 1925 to 1959 time period had only 49 (8.1%) of the overturns reported, (14 farmers did not provide the year of most recent overturn); only data from the 1960 to 2002 period (approximately 41 years) were used. After making these adjustments, incidents evaluated included 25 cases (one fatal and four serious nonfatal injuries) that involved ROPS-equipped tractor overturns and 88 cases (24 fatal and 64 serious nonfatal injuries) that involved non-ROPS tractor overturns. Chores at highest risk for tractor overturns were identified for which educational and ROPS retrofit interventions could be emphasized. The highest frequency of overturn-related fatalities and nonfatal injuries were associated with hay harvesting, rotary mowing, and on-farm travel chores. These three chores represented 68.2% of fatal events and 50.0% of permanent and 56.6% of temporary disability overturn incidents. Tragically, in countries such as India and China with emerging mechanization, a large majority of tractors are produced without ROPS that can be expected to result in the same overturn-related epidemic of deaths experienced in highly mechanized countries, despite evidence of the protection provided by ROPS.
Farm-Tractor—Related Fatalities—Kentucky, 1994
JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 1995
All material in the MMWR series is in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without special permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.
Tractor Overturn Concerns in Iowa: Perspectives from the Keokuk County Rural Health Study
Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 2006
Agriculture remains one of the most hazardous industries in the U.S., with tractor overturns producing the greatest number of agricultural machinery-related fatalities. Rollover protective structures (ROPS) and seatbelts effectively reduce tractor overturn deaths. However, a large proportion of tractors in use in American agriculture are older tractors without ROPS and seatbelts. This article describes the tractor-related responses from participants in a population-based study conducted in Keokuk County, Iowa. This study was designed to measure rural and agricultural adverse health and injury outcomes and their respective risk factors. Questionnaires were partially developed from well-documented national surveys. Questions about agricultural machinery use, presence of safety equipment on the machinery, work practices, and attitudes about farm safety were included. Study participants on farms who owned tractors had an average of 3.1 tractors with an average age of 27 years. Only 39% of the 665 tractors had ROPS. Tractor age was associated with the presence of ROPS; 84% of tractors manufactured after 1984 were ROPS-equipped, whereas only 3% of tractors manufactured before 1960 were ROPS-equipped. ROPS-equipped tractors were significantly more common on larger farms and households with higher income.