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1994 Wisconsin Farm-Related FatalitiesMark A. Purschwitz and Cheryl A. Skjolaas |
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Thirty-one fatalities related to farm work or work site activities occurred in Wisconsin in 1994, compared to 40 fatalities in 1993 and 50 in 1992. Wisconsin has averaged 40 such fatalities per year over the past five years.
The 1994 fatality rate (number of fatalities per 100,000 workers) was 26.1, based on an average of 119,000 workers in production agriculture in Wisconsin in 1994 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 rates of 32.7 and 40.7 for 1993 and 1992, respectively.
Fatalities |
1994 | 1993 | 1992 |
|---|---|---|---|
Number |
31 | 40 | 50 |
Rate* |
26.1 | 32.7 | 40.7 |
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 890 work deaths in 1994 and a fatality rate of 26 deaths per 100,000 workers. This compares with 5000 fatalities for all U.S. industries combined, with a death rate of four per 100,000.
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.
Farm tractors were involved in 11 (35.5%) of the 31 fatalities. Other farm machines were involved in seven (22.6%) of the 31 fatalities. These are discussed in more detail later in this report. Unlike previous years, there were no confined space fatalities, but there were four fatalities related to tree felling. Animals (a bull attack, a cow kick, and a cow falling on the victim) were involved in three (9.7%) of the fatalities. There were three truck-related fatalities (lost control on road, slipped under cattle trailer, and crushed while working beneath pickup).
Other incidents accounted for the remaining three fatalities. These included an electrocution with irrigation pipe, a pond drowning, and exposure to the cold when trapped under a collapsed wood pile.
Fatalities |
1994 | 1993 | 1992 |
|---|---|---|---|
Tractors |
11 | 15 | 16 |
Farm Machines |
7 | 9 | 15 |
Confined Spaces |
0 | 4 | 1 |
Animals |
3 | 3 | 6 |
Tree Felling |
4 | 1 | 1 |
Trucks |
3 | 1 | 1 |
Falls |
0 | 1 | 3 |
Other |
3 | 6 | 7 |
Total |
31 | 40 | 50 |
Farm tractors were involved in 11 farm fatalities in 1994, compared with 15 in 1993 and 16 in 1992. Tractor rollovers (overturns) accounted for six (54.5%) of the tractor fatalities. Runovers/falls (being run over by the tractor, sometimes after falling from it) accounted for three fatalities (27.3%), and other types of tractor-related incidents accounted for two fatalities (18.2%), including being struck by a train and being pinned between the tractor and the door frame of a shed.
Tractor |
1994 | 1993 | 1992 |
|---|---|---|---|
Rollovers |
6 | 10 | 1 |
Runovers/Falls |
3 | 2 | 5 |
Other |
2 | 3 | 1 |
Total |
11 | 15 | 16 |
Farm machines (other than tractors) were involved in seven farm fatalities in 1994, compared with nine in 1993 and 15 in 1992. Entanglements were involved in just two (28.6%) of the machine-related fatalities; machines involved were a corn picker and an auger inside a barn. There was one runover (by a grinder-mixer), and three fatalities involving being pinned (a portable grain auger collapse; being pinned by a barn cleaner chute while repairing it; and being pinned under the arms of a skid-steer loader). The other machine-related fatality involved a fall from a hay wagon.
Machines |
1994 | 1993 | 1992 |
|---|---|---|---|
Entanglements |
2 | 7 | 4 |
Runovers |
1 | 1 | 6 |
Pinned |
3 | 1 | 3 |
Other |
1 | 0 | 2 |
Total |
7 | 9 | 15 |
Twenty-eight (90.3%) of the victims were males, and three (9.7%) were females. The ages of the three females were 3, 67, and 88.
Persons age 65 and older accounted for 10 (32.2%) of the victims. Adults age 45-64 accounted for 11 (35.5%) of the victims. Four (12.9%) of the victims were age 14 or younger; two of those were under age 5. The following table shows distribution by age using standard National Safety Council age categories.
Age |
Number | Percent |
|---|---|---|
0-4 |
2 | 6.5% |
5-14 |
2 | 6.5% |
15-24 |
1 | 3.2% |
25-44 |
5 | 16.1% |
45-64 |
11 | 35.5% |
65+ |
10 | 32.2% |
Total |
31 | 100.0% |
Summer and fall accounted for 18 (58.1%) of the 31 farm fatalities in 1994, a 33% reduction from the 27 that occurred during summer and fall 1993. Eleven (35.5%) occurred during the summer months of June, July, and August, and seven occurred during the fall months of September, October, and November. There were five fatalities in December 1994, unlike 1993, which had no fatalities in December. The distribution by month of injury is given below.
| January | 0 | July | 5 |
| February | 2 | August | 4 |
| March | 3 | September | 3 |
| April | 1 | October | 3 |
| May | 2 | November | 1 |
| June | 2 | December | 5 |
In 1994, four farm-related fatalities were reported in Grant County, and two fatalities in each of four other counties. One fatality was reported in each of 19 counties. Listed alphabetically below are the counties of occurrence.
| Adams | 2 | Juneau | 1 |
| Barron | 2 | Kewaunee | 1 |
| Brown | 1 | Lafayette | 1 |
| Buffalo | 1 | Marinette | 1 |
| Calumet | 1 | Monroe | 1 |
| Columbia | 1 | Ozaukee | 1 |
| Crawford | 1 | Pierce | 1 |
| Dane | 2 | Shawano | 2 |
| Door | 1 | St. Croix | 1 |
| Eau Claire | 1 | Trempealeau | 1 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | Vernon | 1 |
| Grant | 4 | Washington | 1 |
Clippings from Wisconsin daily and weekly newspapers; Wisconsin Center for Health Statistics death certificate registry; National Agricultural Statistics Service Farm Labor Reports.
August 1995