Preventing Farm Machinery Entanglements

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Preventing Farm Machinery Entanglements
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Outline

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

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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.

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• 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

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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

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Pinch point

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

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Crush point

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

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Wrap point

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

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Pull-in point

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

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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

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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?

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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.

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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Case Study 6

• Bob Ellenor
• Most farm fatalities occur during daylight hours,
  and there are clear peaks during the afternoon,
  from 200 to 600 pm.
• Canadian Agricultural Injury Surveillance
  Program. Fatal Farm Injuries in Canada, 1990
  1998

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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?

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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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

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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?

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What can an entanglement cost?

• 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

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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?

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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?

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ConclusionYou can work safely with farm
machinery. Heres 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.

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• Walk around, dont 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.

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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