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Thirty-two fatalities related to farm work or work site activities occurred
in Wisconsin in 2000, compared to 26 fatalities in 1999 and 29 in 1998.
Wisconsin has averaged 32.6 such fatalities per year over the past five years.
The 2000 Wisconsin farm fatality rate (number of fatalities per 100,000 workers)
was 35.2, based on an estimated average of 90,700 workers in production agriculture
in Wisconsin in 2000, as reported by the National Agricultural Statistics Service
(including farm operators, unpaid family labor, and hired workers, but excluding
service workers hired through agricultural labor contractors). This compares
to rates of 26.5 and 28.2 for 1999 and 1998, respectively.
Fatalities |
2000 | 1999 | 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 32 |
26 | 29 |
| Rate* | 35.2 | 26.5 | 28.2 |
According to the National Safety Council, agriculture is consistently one of the three most hazardous industries in the U.S. (along with mining and construction), with an estimated 770 work deaths in 1999 and a fatality rate of 22.5 deaths per 100,000 workers. This compares with 5100 fatalities for all U.S. industries combined, with a death rate of 3.8 per 100,000.
Farm-related fatalities are defined as unintentional deaths resulting from injury or environmental factors involving farm work or hazards of the farm work site. Fatalities resulting from heart attacks, recreational activities, home-related activities, or most motor vehicle injuries, are not included in this definition.
Farm tractors were involved in 11 (34.4%) of the 32 fatalities. Other farm machines were involved in 12 (37.5%) of the 32 fatalities. Animals were involved in six (18.8%) of the 32 fatalities. These are discussed in more detail later in this report. In addition, there was a truck runover of a child in a barnyard, a suffocation under loose straw, and a suffocation under grain in an open storage.
| Fatalities | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tractors | 11 | 13 | 15 |
| Farm Machines | 12 | 7 | 8 |
| Confined Space | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Falls | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Animals | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| Trucks/Vehicles | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Total | 32 | 26 | 29 |
Farm tractors were involved in 11 farm fatalities in 2000, compared with 13 in 1999 and 15 in 1998. Tractor rollovers (overturns) accounted for five (45.5 %) of the tractor fatalities. Runovers/falls (being run over by the tractor, and / or falling from it) accounted for five fatalities (45.5%). One additional tractor-related fatality involved being pinned between the tractor steering wheel and the raised bucket of a skid-steer loader.
Tractor |
2000 | 1999 | 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|
Rollovers |
5 | 8 | 7 |
Runovers/Falls |
5 | 4 | 8 |
Other |
1 | 1 | 0 |
Total |
11 | 13 | 15 |
Farm machines other than tractors were involved in 12 fatalities in 2000, compared with seven in 1999 and eight in 1998. Entanglements (including amputations, lacerations, or other trauma) accounted for two (16.7%) of these fatalities; machines included a forage wagon and a liquid manure pump PTO driveline. Four fatalities (33.3%) involved being pinned or crushed by a machine; these included a skid-steer loader, portable hay elevator, stone picker, and milking parlor crowd gate. Two fatalities (16.7%) involved being run over by a machine; machines were a mower and a feed mixer. The other four machine-related fatalities included a fall from a combine, a fall from a hay wagon, an overturn of a horse-drawn manure spreader, and an overturn of an ATV being used for fence work.
Machines |
2000 | 1999 | 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|
Entanglement |
2 | 3 | 3 |
Pinned |
4 | 2 | 3 |
Runovers |
2 | 2 | 2 |
Other |
4 | 0 | 0 |
Total |
12 | 7 | 8 |
Animals were involved in six of the 32 fatalities, compared with one in 1999 and one in 1998. Four of the six involved attacks by bulls. The other two involved a horse kick and being struck in the head by a heifer.
In 2000, farm-related fatalities were reported in 24 counties. One county had three fatalities, six counties had two fatalities each, and 17 counties had one fatality.
| Barron | 3 | Grant | 1 |
| Brown | 2 | Green Lake | 1 |
| Buffalo | 2 | Jefferson | 1 |
| Calumet | 1 | Juneau | 1 |
| Chippewa | 1 | Kewaunee | 1 |
| Clark | 1 | Lafayette | 2 |
| Columbia | 1 | Manitowoc | 2 |
| Crawford | 1 | Marathon | 1 |
| Dane | 1 | Monroe | 1 |
| Door | 1 | Richland | 2 |
| Dunn | 1 | Sawyer | 2 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | Vernon | 1 |
The peak month for fatalities was May, with 8 (25%) fatalities. There were fatalities in nine of the 12 months; the distribution by month of occurrence is given below. (Month of occurrence is when the injury occurred; in some cases, the victim died later.)
| January | 2 | July | 0 |
| February | 0 | August | 3 |
| March | 0 | September | 3 |
| April | 3 | October | 3 |
| May | 8 | November | 4 |
| June | 4 | December | 2 |
Thirty-one (96.9%) of the victims were males, and one was female; she was a child. Persons age 45-64 accounted for 14 (43.8%) of the victims. Persons age 65 and older accounted for 12 (37.5%). Four (12.5%) of the victims were age 14 or younger, including two (6.3 %) age four or younger. The following table gives the age distribution using standard National Safety Council age categories, with expanded categories below age 25. (Percentages may not add up due to round-off.)
Age |
Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
0 - 4 |
2 | 6.3% |
5 - 9 |
1 | 3.1% |
10 - 14 |
1 | 3.1% |
15 - 19 |
1 | 3.1% |
| 20 - 24 | 0 | 0.% |
| 25 - 44 | 1 | 3.1% |
45 - 64 |
14 | 43.8% |
65+ |
12 | 37.5% |
Total |
32 | 100.0% |
Clippings from Wisconsin daily and weekly newspapers; Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Bureau of Health Information death certificate registry; National Agricultural Statistics Service Farm Labor Reports.
August 2001