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Thirty-six fatalities related to farm work or work site activities occurred in Wisconsin in 1995, compared to 31 fatalities in 1994 and 40 in 1993. Wisconsin has averaged 39 such fatalities per year over the past five years.
The 1995 fatality rate (number of fatalities per 100,000 workers) was 28.3, based on an average of 127,000 workers in production agriculture in Wisconsin in 1995 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 26.1 and 32.7 for 1994 and 1993, respectively.
Fatalities |
1995 | 1994 | 1993 |
|---|---|---|---|
Number |
36 | 31 | 40 |
Rate* |
28.3 | 26.1 | 32.7 |
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 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 16 (44.4%) of the 36 fatalities. Other farm machines were involved in 12 (33.3%) of the 36 fatalities. These are discussed in more detail later in this report. Unlike previous years, there were no confined space fatalities or fatalities related to tree felling. Animals (a bull attack and being dragged by a team of horses) were involved in two (5.5%) of the fatalities. There was one truck-related fatality (an overturn and ejection on the farm) and a fall.
Other incidents accounted for four fatalities. These involved fatal burns while cleaning parts with flammable liquid which burst into flame; being struck and pinned by a collapsing overhead grain bin support structure; and two cases of heat stroke while doing farm work.
Fatalities |
1995 | 1994 | 1993 |
|---|---|---|---|
Tractors |
16 | 11 | 15 |
Farm Machines |
12 | 7 | 9 |
Confined Spaces |
0 | 0 | 4 |
Animals |
2 | 3 | 3 |
Tree Felling |
0 | 4 | 1 |
Trucks |
1 | 3 | 1 |
Falls |
1 | 0 | 1 |
Other |
4 | 3 | 6 |
Total |
36 | 31 | 40 |
Farm tractors were involved in 16 farm fatalities in 1995, compared with 11 in 1994 and 15 in 1993. Tractor rollovers (overturns) accounted for five (31.3%) of the tractor fatalities. Runovers/falls (being run over by the tractor, sometimes after falling from it) accounted for six fatalities (37.5%).
Other types of tractor related incidents accounted for five fatalities (31.3%). These involved a tractor being struck by a truck; a child strangulation while playing on a tractor; being struck in the chest by a moving tractor; being pinned under water by a tractor which slid into a drainage canal; and carbon monoxide poisoning while running a tractor in a closed building.
Tractor |
1995 | 1994 | 1993 |
|---|---|---|---|
Rollovers |
5 | 6 | 10 |
Runovers/Falls |
6 | 3 | 2 |
Other |
5 | 2 | 3 |
Total |
16 | 11 | 15 |
Farm machines (other than tractors) were involved in 12 farm fatalities in 1995, compared with seven in 1994 and nine in 1993. Entanglements accounted for five fatalities; four were PTO entanglements on a grinder/mixer, hay elevator, corn sheller, and auger. The fifth entanglement involved a child struck by and entangled in a mower conditioner. Six fatalities involved being pinned by a machine, including two cases of being pinned beneath the arms or bucket of skid-steer loaders. Other cases of pinning involved a gravity box tipping off the running gear; a gravity box door pinning the neck of a child; a wagon becoming unhitched and pinning the person riding on the tongue; and a cornpicker falling off a jack. One other fatality involved a skid-steer loader overturn.
Machines |
1995 | 1994 | 1993 |
|---|---|---|---|
Entanglements |
5 | 2 | 7 |
Runovers |
0 | 1 | 1 |
Pinned |
6 | 3 | 1 |
Other |
1 | 1 | 0 |
Total |
12 | 7 | 9 |
Thirty-two (88.9%) of the victims were males, and four (11.1%) were females. The ages of the four females were 9, 28, 50, and 80.
Persons age 65 and older accounted for 15 (41.7%) of the victims. Adults age 45-64 accounted for seven (19.4%) of the victims. Seven victims were age 14 or younger. 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 | 8.3 % |
| 5-9 | 2 | 5.6 % |
| 10-14 | 2 | 5.6 % |
| 15-19 | 3 | 8.3 % |
| 20-24 | 2 | 5.6 % |
| 25-44 | 2 | 5.6 % |
| 45-64 | 7 | 19.4 % |
| 65+ | 15 | 41.7 % |
| Total | 36 | 100 % |
Peak months for fatalities were June, September, May and October with fairly even distribution across the other months. The distribution by month of occurrence is given below.
| January | 0 | July | 7 |
| February | 2 | August | 2 |
| March | 1 | September | 7 |
| April | 3 | October | 4 |
| May | 4 | November | 2 |
| June | 2 | December | 2 |
In 1995, farm-related fatalities were reported in 24 counties. Three counties had three fatalities, six counties had two fatalities, and 15 counties had one fatality.
| Buffalo | 1 | Oconto | 1 |
| Burnett | 1 | Outagamie | 1 |
| Clark | 2 | Pierce | 2 |
| Crawford | 2 | Racine | 1 |
| Dane | 3 | Rusk | 1 |
| Dodge | 1 | St. Croix | 1 |
| Dunn | 2 | Sauk | 1 |
| Fond du Lac | 1 | Shawano | 1 |
| Green | 1 | Vernon | 3 |
| Iowa | 1 | Waukesha | 1 |
| Marathon | 3 | Waupaca | 2 |
| Monroe | 1 | Wood | 2 |
Clippings from Wisconsin daily and weekly newspapers; Wisconsin Center for Health Statistics death certificate registry; National Agricultural Statistics Service Farm Labor Reports.
August 1996