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Twenty-nine fatalities related to farm work or work site hazards occurred in
Wisconsin in 2001, compared to 32 fatalities in 2000 and 26 in 1999. Wisconsin
has averaged 31.4 such fatalities per year over the past five years.
The 2001 Wisconsin farm fatality rate (number of fatalities per 100,000 workers)
was 33.4, based on an estimated average of 86,800 workers in production agriculture
in Wisconsin in 2001, 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 35.2 and 26.5 for 2000 and 1999, respectively.
Fatalities |
2001 | 2000 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number | 29 |
32 | 26 |
| Rate* | 33.4 | 35.2 | 26.5 |
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 (37.9%) of the 29 fatalities. Other farm machines were involved in five (17.2%) of the 29 fatalities. Falls were also involved in five (17.2%) of the 29 fatalities (two from silos, one from a ladder, one while climbing over a gate, and one while moving cattle). There was one confined space fatality (suffocation in a grain bin); one animal-related fatality (bull attack); and one vehicle fatality (struck by a car while crossing the road between house and barn). In addition, fatalities involved a trench collapse; explosion of tractor tire after inflating it; tree falling on a tractor operator; heat stroke from working on a barn roof; and lightning strike out in a hay field.
| Fatalities | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tractors | 11 | 11 | 13 |
| Farm Machines | 5 | 12 | 7 |
| Confined Space | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Falls | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Animals | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Trucks/Vehicles | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Other | 5 | 2 | 4 |
| Total | 29 | 32 | 26 |
Farm tractors were involved in 11 farm fatalities in 2001, compared with 11 in 2000 and 13 in 1999. Tractor rollovers (overturns) accounted for three (27.3 %) of the tractor fatalities. Runovers/falls (being run over by the tractor, and / or falling from it) accounted for seven fatalities (45.5%). One additional tractor-related fatality involved operating a tractor that was struck by a passing truck.
Tractor |
2001 | 2000 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|
Rollovers |
3 | 5 | 8 |
Runovers/Falls |
7 | 5 | 4 |
Other |
1 | 1 | 1 |
Total |
11 | 11 | 13 |
Farm machines other than tractors were involved in five fatalities in 2001, compared with 12 in 2000 and seven in 1999. There were no entanglements. Three fatalities involved being pinned; two of these machines were skid-steer loaders, and one was a powered gate in a milking parlor. The one runover fatality involved a manure spreader. One fatality involved a skid-steer loader overturn.
Machines |
2001 | 2000 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|
Entanglement |
0 | 2 | 3 |
Pinned |
3 | 4 | 2 |
Runovers |
1 | 2 | 2 |
Other |
1 | 4 | 0 |
Total |
5 | 12 | 7 |
In 2001, farm-related fatalities were reported in 23 counties. Two counties had three fatalities each, two counties had two fatalities each, and 19 counties had one fatality.
| Buffalo | 2 | Outagamie | 1 |
| Calumet | 1 | Portage | 1 |
| Dodge | 1 | Richland | 2 |
| Door | 1 | Rock | 1 |
| Dunn | 1 | Sauk | 1 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | Shawano | 1 |
| Grant | 3 | St. Croix | 1 |
| Green | 1 | Trempeleau | 3 |
| Jefferson | 1 | Vernon | 1 |
| Marinette | 1 | Washington | 1 |
| Marquette | 1 | Washara | 1 |
| Monroe | 1 |
The peak month for fatalities was April, with five (17.2%) of the fatalities. There were fatalities in all 12 months; the distribution by month of occurrence is given below. (Month of occurrence is when the injury occurred; the victim may have died later.)
| January | 1 | July | 2 |
| February | 1 | August | 4 |
| March | 2 | September | 3 |
| April | 5 | October | 3 |
| May | 4 | November | 1 |
| June | 2 | December | 1 |
Twenty-eight (96.9%) of the victims were male, and one was female; she was a child. Persons age 45-64 accounted for 10 (34.5%) of the victims. Persons age 65 and older accounted for 10 (34.5%). Three (10.3%) of the victims were age 4 or younger. All three had been run over by tractors. The following table gives the age distribution using standard National Safety Council age categories, with expanded categories below age 25.
Age |
Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
0 - 4 |
3 | 10.3% |
5 - 9 |
0 | 0% |
10 - 14 |
0 | 0% |
15 - 19 |
0 | 0% |
| 20 - 24 | 0 | 0% |
| 25 - 44 | 6 | 20.7% |
45 - 64 |
10 | 34.5% |
65+ |
10 | 34.5% |
Total |
29 | 100.0% |
Clippings from Wisconsin daily and weekly newspapers; Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services, Bureau of Health Information death certificate registry; county coroners' and sheriffs' reports; National Agricultural Statistics Service Farm Labor Reports.