Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program |
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A 15-Year-Old Male Farm Laborer Dies After the Tractor He was Operating Overturned Into a Manure Pit - Pennsylvania |
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SummaryA 15-year-old male farm worker (the victim) died after the tractor he was operating overturned into a manure pit. The tractor was equipped with a manure scraper fashioned from half a tractor tire mounted on the draw bar at the rear of the tractor. The victim and another 15-year-old-male, who was sitting on the tractor's left fender, were scraping cattle manure across a concrete-surfaced barnyard toward the mouth of the manure pit. As the tractor approached the open mouth of the manure pit, the victim applied the brakes, and the tractor skidded on the concrete surface wet from the manure. The left front wheel slid over the concrete edge of the manure pit, causing the tractor to overturn into the manure pit. The tractor came to rest upside down, pinning the victim underneath. The victim and the tractor were completely submerged in the manure pit. The passenger was able to reach the dirt side wall of the pit, climb out, and run for help. Other farm workers immediately called 911 and went to assist the victim. The local Fire Department and rescue personnel arrived within minutes and started to search for the victim. Approximately 35 minutes after the incident, the victim was extracted from the manure pit. Rescue personnel initiated CPR immediately and transported the victim to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. NIOSH investigators concluded that to help prevent similar occurrences, employers in agricultural operations should:
Additionally:
IntroductionOn May 10, 2000, a 15-year-old male farm worker (the victim) died when the tractor he was operating overturned into a manure pit. A second 15-year-old male, who was riding on the fender of the tractor, was able to exit the manure pit uninjured. On June 5, 2000, officials of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor notified the Division of Safety Research (DSR) of this fatality. On July 27, 2000, a DSR occupational safety and health specialist conducted an investigation of the incident. The incident was reviewed with officials of the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor who had investigated the incident. The State Police Station Commander was interviewed and the investigating trooper's report was reviewed. A visit was made to the scene of the incident by the DSR investigator, where an interview with the farmer/employer was conducted and photographs taken. The employer was a family-owned dairy farm that had been in operation under the present ownership for approximately 1 year. The farm had been in existence for 25 years. The employer had no written safety program or procedures. Any training by the employer was conducted on the job. On the day of the incident six workers were employed at the farm; three were under the age of 16. Neither of the 15-year-old males involved in the incident had received any formal training in the operation of the tractor involved in the incident. The victim had received some on-the-job training during the 1 year he had worked part time at the farm. The passenger involved in the incident had just begun work at the farm and was receiving on-the-job training from the victim at the time of the incident. Back to TopInvestigationIn the late afternoon of May 5, 2000, two 15-year-old-male farm workers were using a tractor to scrape cattle manure across a concrete barn floor and yard area to the open mouth of a manure pit. The manure pit measured 50 yards long by 30 yards wide. The pit was 12 feet deep at its deepest point and approximately 10 feet deep in the area around the open-mouth entrance. A single strand of barbed wire was present around the perimeter of the manure pit. The employer had fabricated the manure scraper from half a tractor tire and mounted it on the draw bar at the rear of the tractor. The open side of the half tractor tire faced the rear of the tractor (Picture 1). The tractor was driven forward to scrape up the manure and gather it into a pile at the mouth of the pit (Picture 2). The tractor was then turned around and backed up, pushing the manure over the edge of the concrete surface and into the pit. The 45-PTO (power take-off) horsepower tractor involved in the incident was approximately 30 years old and had a wide-front tire configuration. The tractor was not equipped with a rollover protective structure (ROPS). At approximately 5:45 p.m., the victim was driving the tractor forward toward the unguarded mouth of the manure pit. The second male was riding as a passenger on the tractor, sitting and holding onto the left-hand fender. As the victim applied the tractor's brakes in an attempt to slow down, the tractor skidded across the concrete surface wet from the manure. The left front wheel slipped over the concrete edge at the mouth of the manure pit, causing the tractor to overturn into the pit. The tractor came to rest upside down completely submerged, pinning the victim in the manure pit (Picture 3). The passenger was able to jump away from the tractor and exit the manure pit by way of its dirt side embankment and run for help. The emergency rescue service was called and other farmhands came to assist the victim. Fire Department and rescue personnel responded within minutes and started searching for the tractor and the victim. Rescue workers stated that the manure had a viscosity similar to that of freshly poured cement, and this ruled out the use of scuba divers in the search for the victim. The rescue workers stood in approximately 4½ feet of manure probing with poles and hooks in an effort to locate the victim and tractor. Approximately 35 minutes after the incident, the victim was located and extracted from the manure pit. Rescue personnel initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately and transported the victim to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Back to TopCause of DeathThe Medical Examiner listed the cause of death as asphyxia. Recommendations and DiscussionRecommendation #1: Employers involved in agricultural operations should ensure that manure pits are marked as hazardous areas and are substantially barricaded, as determined by the design of the pit, to prevent inadvertent entrance.Discussion: Manure pits are necessary on larger farming operations to serve as holding facilities until such time as the manure can be dispensed to other areas of the farm as liquid fertilizer. The open pit in this incident was located at the end of a concrete yard that ran between two cattle barns. Manure holding facilities can also be configured as underground pits located outside or under barns, or as silo-type configurations. All manure holding facilities should be marked and identified as hazardous areas, and should be substantially barricaded to prevent inadvertent entrance to the pits. Farm owners and operators should periodically inspect manure pits on their farms to ensure these safety measures are in place. All employees should be made aware of the hazards associated with manure pits, including drowning, oxygen deficient and/or explosive atmospheres due to the presence of methane, and hazardous atmospheres due to hydrogen sulfide. In this instance, the open pit was barricaded around its perimeter by a single strand of barbed wire that was not sufficient to stop the tractor from entering the manure pit. Farm owners and operators should consider seeking the assistance of their local county extension agent, an agricultural engineer, or equipment dealers or manufacturers in evaluating the safest way to barricade their manure holding facilities. In this instance, steel beams or iron pipes could have been set in the concrete runway to provide a more substantial barricade. Additionally, the runway could have been extended over the end of the pit. An opening could have been located in the runway over the pit that would be large enough to allow the manure to drop into the pit but not large enough to impede the tractor's operation. A buffer area could have been located behind the opening in the runway with the barricade set at the end of the buffer area.
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The FACE investigation project is the cornerstone of the overall NIOSH program to prevent occupational fatalities. The objectives for this effort include the investigation of occupational fatalities to assess and characterize the circumstances of these events in order to develop succinct descriptive and evaluative reports for distribution to occupational safety and health groups across the country. This work is being conducted by the FACE investigation team. It is expected that the reports alone will have a major impact by better defining the causal factors behind occupational fatalities, calling national attention to the problem, and providing insights into the prevention efforts that are needed. However, the program does not determine fault or place blame on companies or individual workers.