1993 Wisconsin Farm-Related Fatalities Mark A. Purschwitz and Cheryl A. Skjolaas Agricultural Engineering Department University of Wisconsin-Madison/Extension College of Agr. and Life Sciences

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Definition | Types of Fatalities | Tractor-Related | Machine-Related | Age and Gender | Month | County | Data Source

Forty fatalities related to farm work or work site activities occurred in Wisconsin in 1993. Wisconsin has averaged 40 such fatalities per year over the past five years. The 1993 fatality rate (number of fatalities per 100,000 workers) was 32.7, based on an average of 122,500 workers in production agriculture in Wisconsin in 1993 as reported by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (including farm operators, unpaid family labor, and hired workers, but excluding service workers hired through labor contractors).

This compares to 1992 totals of fity fatalities and a rate of 40.7 fatalities per 100,000 workers, based on an average of 122,750 workers.

According to the National Safety Council, agriculture is one of the most hazardous industries in the U.S., with an estimated 1100 work deaths in 1993.

Farm-Related Fatality Definition

Farm-related fatalities are defined as unintentional injury deaths involving farm work or hazards of the farm work site. Fatalities resulting from recreational activities, home-related activities, or most motor vehicle injuries, are not included in this definition.

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Types of Farm-Related Fatalities

Farm tractors were involved in 15 (37.5%) of the 40 fatalities. Other farm machines were involved in nine (22.5%) of the 40 fatalities. These are discussed in more detail later in this report. Confined space asphyxiations resulted in four (10.0%) fatalities. These involved entrapments in two grain bins and a gravity-flow wagon, and entry into an oxygen-limiting silo. Animals (a bull, cow, and team of horses) were involved in three (7.5%) of the fatalities. There was one fall, from a silo.

Other agents of injury and incidents accounted for the remaining eight fatalities. These included two trench collapses, an electrocution, an explosion in the shop, being pinned under a truck bed, being struck by a falling tree, smoke inhalation from a field fire, and being struck by lightning.

Farm Tractor-Related Fatalities

Farm tractors were involved in 15 farm fatalities in 1993, compared with 16 in 1992. Tractor rollovers (overturns) accounted for ten (66.7%) of the tractor fatalities. Falls/runovers (being run over by the tractor, sometimes after falling from it) accounted for two fatalities (13.3%), and other types of tractor-related incidents accounted for three fatalities (20.0%), including driving into a fuel tank, being pinned between the branch and the steering wheel, and being knocked off and pinned beneath a vehicle bring pulled from a ditch.

Farm Machine-Related Fatalities

Farm machines (other than tractors) were involved in nine farm fatalities in 1993, compared with 5 in 1992. Entanglements were involved in seven (77.8%) of the machine-related fatalities; machines involved were a hay baler, manure spreader, corn picker, conveyor, elevator, wood saw, and rock hauling machinery. The other machine-related fatalities involved a runover (the machine ran over the victim) and a hay wagon falling off a jack and pinning the victim.

Age and Gender of Victims

Thirty-eight (95.0%) of the victims were males, and two (5.0%) were females.
Persons age 65 and older accounted for 16 (40.0%) of the victims. Adults age 45-64 accounted for nine (22.5%) of the victims. Five (12.5%) of the victims were age 15 or younger; two of those were under age 5. The following table shows distribution by age using standard National Safety Council age categories.

Month of Occurrence

Summer and fall accounted for 27 (67.5%) of the fatalities, with 12 occurring during the summer months of June, July, and August, and 15 occurring during the fall months of September, October, and November. The distribution by month of injury is given below.

County of Occurrence

In 1993, four fatalities were reported in Dodge County, and three fatalities in Wood County. Two fatalities were reported in each of 11 counties, and one fatality in each of 11 counties. Listed alphabetically below are the counties where farm-related fatalities occurred.

Data Sources

Clippings from Wisconsin daily and weekly newspapers
Wisconsin Center for Health Statistics death certificate registry
Wisconsin Worker's Compensation Division census of fatal occupational injuries
National Agricultural Statistics Service Farm Labor Reports

August 1994