FACTS
- The most frequent causes of tractor-related deaths in the farm are side and rear overturns. The vehicles typically involved in these incidents are older tractors that are not equipped with Roll-Over Protective Structures (ROPS).
- Farming is among the most dangerous occupations in the United States, with a fatality rate that is 800 percent higher than the average American worker
- Roll-overs are among the leading causes of injury and death for farm tractor operators.
- Tractor overturn incidents can result in major injuries (crushing injuries, broken bones, and so on) and even death.
- Side overturns are the most common type of tractor overturn incident. In a side overturn incident, a tractor rolls onto its side.
- The two major factors at play inside overturn incidents are center of gravity and centrifugal force.
STATS
- Each year, an average of 132 American farm workers are crushed to death as tractors overturn during operation.
- If tractors without ROPS are not retrofitted, NIOSH estimates that 2,800 rollover-related deaths could occur during the period that these tractors remain in use (an estimated 31 years).
- Forty percent of the 250 persons involved in unprotected tractor rollover incidents died. In contrast, the study found that only 2%, or one person died, of the 61 persons operating ROPS-equipped tractors that rolled over. The one fatal victim was not personally restrained and was thrown from the ROPS protective zone during rollover.
- The most common type of tractor accident is rollovers—The U.S. Department of Labor (USDL) reports that 44% of farm accidents are due to tractor rollovers.
- Of the 4.8 million tractors currently operated in the U.S., 50% don’t have ROPS or seat belts.
- 1 in 10 operators overturn a tractor in his or her lifetime.
- 80% of deaths caused by tractor overturns involve experienced operators.
- 1 in 7 farmers involved in tractor overturns is permanently disabled.
- 7 of 10 farms will go out of business within 5 years following a tractor-related fatality.