This document is a summary of a larger document in english.
SUMMARY : CASE 192-040-01
A tractor driver was pulling a mulcher (which cuts wood into smaller pieces) over cut branches in an orange grove. He owned an orange grove and knew how to use a mulcher. When rounding a row of orange trees, a small metal object was thrown by the blades, exiting through the back of the mulcher. This metal object bounced off the back of the mulcher and struck the tractor driver in the forehead.
A relative found him several hours later, slumped over in the seat on the tractor which had run up against an orange tree. He was unconscious. He was taken, by ambulance, to a hospital. He stayed in a coma and was pronounced brain dead two days later.
How could this death have been prevented?
This
document,
CDHS(COHP)-FI-92-005-15
,
was extracted from a series of the Nurses Using Rural Sentinal
Events (NURSE) project, conducted by the California Occupational
Health Program of the California Department of Health Services,
in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health. Publication date: September 1992.
The NURSE (Nurses Using Rural Sentinel Events) project is conducted by the California Occupational Health Program of the California Department of Health Services, in conjunction with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The program's goal is to prevent occupational injuries associated with agriculture. Injuries are reported by hospitals, emergency medical services, clinics, medical examiners, and coroners. Selected cases are followed up by conducting interviews of injured workers, co-workers, employers, and others involved in the incident. An on-site safety investigation is also conducted. These investigations provide detailed information on the worker, the work environment, and the potential risk factors resulting in the injury. Each investigation concludes with specific recommendations designed to prevent injuries, for the use of employers, workers, and others concerned about health and safety in agriculture.
Disclaimer and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
