Fatalities Associated With Farm Tractor Injuries: An Epidemiologic Study

  • Goodman, Richard A.;
  • Mickey, Jean L.;
  • Rogers, Donna L.;
  • Sikes, R. Keith;
  • Smith, J. David
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AUTHOR ABSTRACT

Death certificates were used as a source of information to characterize fatalities associated with farm tractor injuries in Georgia for the period 1971-81. In this period, 202 tractor-associated fatalities occurred among residents of Georgia; 198 of these persons were males. The annual tractor-associated fatality rate for males based on the population of male farm residents was 23.6 per 100,000; rates of fatal injury increased with age for this population. Persons whose primary occupation was other than farming accounted for more than half of all tractor-associated deaths.

Fatal injuries occurred throughout the year but predominantly during the planting and harvesting months. Injuries occurred throughout the day (7 a.m. to midnight), with a peak at 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Most fatal injuries, 76 percent, resulted when tractors overturned. Fatalities were attributed to crushed chest, exsanguination, strangulation or asphyxia, drowning, and other injuries. Current safety standards for the operation of farm tractors are limited; rollover protective canopies are not re uired for farm owners or their family members. Descriptive epidemiologic information obtained from death certificates can be used to define injury determinants and to suggest approaches for the further study and prevention of specific types of injuries.

JOURNAL AND NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE ID#

JOURNAL: Public Health Rep. 1985; 100(3): 329-333.

Note: Public Health Reports.

NLOM ID#: 85217114 .

Publication #: 85217114

This document was extracted from the CDC-NIOSH Epidemiology of Farm Related Injuries: Bibliography With Abstracts, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

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