Preventing Farm Machinery Entanglements

1. Preventing Farm Machinery Entanglements

2. Outline • Background • Accident/incident analysis • Machinery hazards • Case studies • Acceptable risk • Making changes • Conclusion

3. Background Farm machinery entanglements in Canada: • comprise one third of all farm machinery injuries. • involve both sexes and all ages. • cause an average of ten deaths per year. • seriously injure another 275 people per year.

4. Entanglement injuries are among the most traumatic events seen in hospital emergency departments. • Major lacerations • Crushed or fractured limbs • Amputations • Head and spinal cord injuries • Permanent disability

5. Machinery hazards Entanglement can occur when a machine has one or more of the following hazards: • pinch point • crush point • wrap point • pull-in point • shearing, cutting points

6. Pinch point Two or more parts move together with one moving in a circle. Example: • pulley • belt

7. Crush point Two components move toward each other. Example: • three-point hitch • hydraulic cylinder

8. Wrap point Exposed, rotating components. (Nicks, mud or rust increase wrap potential.) Example: • PTO shaft • auger

9. Pull-in point Mechanism designed to pull in crops or other material. Example: • baler pick-up • combine • feed grinder • conveyor

10. Shearing, cutting points Two parts move across each other, or one part moves across a stationary object. Example: • cutter bar • auger • feed mixer • fan blade

11. Learning from experience: Accident/incident analysis • Immediate cause • Possible contributing factors • Human • Mechanical • Environmental • Basic, “systemic” cause • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

12. Case Studies • Stories of real people injured in farm machinery entanglements. Why highlight injuries rather than fatalities? • For every entanglement fatality, there are 27 serious entanglement injuries. • What survivors tell us can help prevent a similar incident.

13. Case Study 1 Erwin Lehmann • Approximately 125 people suffer serious head and/or spinal cord injuries in farm machinery related incidents every year in Canada. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

14. Case Study 1: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors: • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

15. Case Study 2 Doug Thoms • In Canada, over thirty people a year suffer injuries that require admission to hospital as a result of becoming entangled in a baler. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

16. Case Study 2: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors? • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

17. Case Study 3 Bernard Bigoraj • Approximately 275 people a year in Canada are seriously injured when they become entangled or caught in a farm machine. Over 5% of all farm work-related injuries are initiated by a trip or fall. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

18. Case Study 3 Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors? • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

19. Case Study 4 Clara Crawford • Almost sixty women a year in Canada are seriously injured in incidents involving farm machinery. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

20. Case Study 4: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors? • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

21. Case Study 5 Richard Polkinghorne • Approximately 50 people a year in Canada are killed or seriously injured when they become entangled in a power-take-off device. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Fatal Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1998” “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

22. Case Study 5: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors: • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

23. Case Study 6 Bob Ellenor • Most farm fatalities occur during daylight hours, and there are clear peaks during the afternoon, from 2:00 to 6:00 pm. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Fatal Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1998”

24. Case Study 6: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors? • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

25. Case Study 7 Charlene Gray • On average, every year in Canada, three people lose all or part of an arm, another two lose a hand, and almost fifty lose a thumb and/or fingers in farm work-related injuries. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

26. Case Study 7: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors? • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

27. Case Study 8 Lorraine Klassen • On average every year in Canada, nine children under the age of fifteen are killed, and over 100 are seriously injured in incidents involving farm machinery. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Fatal Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1998” “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

28. Case Study 8: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors? • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could prevent a similar incident?

29. Case Study 9 Tony Potoreyko • In Canada, fewer than half of farm fatalities are witnessed; 36% are not discovered for more than an hour, which has a huge impact on the survival rate of the victims. Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance Program. “Hospitalized Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990 – 1995”

30. Case Study 9: Incident analysis • What was the immediate cause of the incident? • What were possible contributing factors? • human • mechanical • environmental • What one thing could decrease the trauma of a similar incident?

31. Pain and suffering Guilt, shame, loss of self-esteem Production downtime Travel and medical expenses Childcare expenses Machinery damage and/or replacement Hired labour costs Increased farm work for spouse/children Less time for study and/or recreation Decreased income Lifetime disability Family breakdown Loss of the farm What can an entanglement cost?

32. What is “acceptable risk?” There is only one person who can decide what level of risk is acceptable for you. Ask yourself : • Is the comfort of a loose shirt on a hot day worth eleven weeks in hospital? • Is saving a few bushels of grain worth losing an arm? • Are the family hassles you avoid by letting your child ride on or play around equipment worth losing the child? • Is getting by on three hours sleep to finish harvest a day earlier worth losing the farm? • Is the convenience of leaving the tractor running while you repair or unplug equipment worth your family losing you?

33. Making changes Farm Safety Audit • A management tool that can minimize the risk of injuries and maximize productivity and profitability • Cost/benefit analysis process: • What will it cost - in terms of time, money and convenience - to change equipment, the environment or a work procedure? • Is the potential benefit worth the cost?

34. ConclusionYou canwork safely with farm machinery. Here’s how: • Guard or shield all moving parts. • Do a pre-operational safety check on yourself. 3. Disengage PTO, turn off engine and remove keys before dismounting tractor. 4. Turn off power before you repair, adjust or unplug machinery.

35. Walk around, don’t climb or reach over a rotating PTO. • Consider yourself a high-risk worker and dress for the job. • Communicate effectively when you work with another person. • Keep bystanders and children away from machinery. • You may want to invest in a Remote control engine shut-off and receiver remote control engine shut-off.

36. Program Partners • I.ARE.H – Centre for Agricultural Medicine • University of Saskatchewan • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada • Canadian Coalition for Agricultural Safety and Rural Health