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Forty-one fatalities related to farm work or work site activities occurred in Wisconsin during 1997, compared to 35 fatalities in 1996 and 36 in 1995. Wisconsin has averaged 36.6 such fatalities per year over the past five years.
The 1997 fatality rate (number of fatalities per 100,000 workers) was 38.9, based on an estimated average of 105,300 workers in production agriculture in Wisconsin in 1997, as reported by the National Agricultural Statistics Services (including farm operators, unpaid family labor, and hired workers, but excluding service workers hired through agricultural labor contractors). This compares to rates of 31.2 and 28.3 for 1996 and 1995, respectively.
Fatalities |
1997 | 1996 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|
Number |
41 | 35 | 36 |
Rate* |
38.9 | 31.2 | 28.3 |
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 710 work deaths in 1996 and a fatality rate of 21 deaths per 100,000 workers. This compares with 4800 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 11 (26.8%) of the 41 fatalities. Other farm machines were involved in 10 (24.4%) of the 41 fatalities. Animals accounted for seven (17.1%) and falls six (14.6%) of the fatalities.These are discussed in more detail later in this report. Confined space fatalities involved an engulfment/suffocation in a grain bin and an asphyxiation in a silo. One person was struck by a vehicle while moving cattle on a road. One child drowned in water in an abandoned silo. Another child was pinned under a cattle gate which fell. One man died of burns received while burning grass. One man was buried by a collapsing pile of bedding.
Fatalities |
1997 | 1996 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|
Tractors |
11 | 12 | 16 |
Farm Machines |
10 | 11 | 12 |
Animals |
7 | 3 | 2 |
Falls |
6 | 4 | 1 |
Confined Spaces |
2 | 2 | 0 |
Trees/Woodcutting |
0 | 2 | 0 |
Trucks/Vehicles |
1 | 0 | 1 |
Other |
4 | 1 | 4 |
Total |
41 | 35 | 36 |
Farm tractors were involved in 11 farm fatalities in 1997, compared with 12 in 1996 and 16 in 1995. Tractor rollovers (overturns) accounted for eight (72.7 %) of the tractor fatalities. Runovers/falls (being run over by the tractor, sometimes after falling from it) accounted for three fatalities (27.3%).
Tractor |
1997 | 1996 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|
Rollovers |
8 | 6 | 5 |
Runovers/Falls |
3 | 6 | 6 |
Other |
0 | 0 | 5 |
Total |
11 | 12 | 16 |
Farm machines (other than tractors) were involved in 10 farm fatalities in 1997, compared with 11 in 1996 and 12 in 1995. Entanglements (contact with moving parts) accounted for five fatalities (50.0 %); machines included two augers, a forage wagon, a feed mixer, and a large barn fan. Four fatalities (40.0%) involved being pinned by a machine. Incidents included being pinned under a combine header, between a 3-pt. hitch hay fork and the tractor wheel, under a plow that slipped off its jack, and between the bucket and frame of a skid-steer loader. One person was killed in a skid-steer loader overturn; the protective cage had been removed.
Machines |
1997 | 1996 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|
Entanglement |
5 | 7 | 5 |
Pinned |
4 | 3 | 6 |
Runovers |
0 | 1 | 0 |
Other |
1 | 0 | 1 |
Total |
10 | 11 | 12 |
Animals were involved in seven farm fatalities in 1997, compared with three
in 1996 and two in 1995. Incidents included three bull attacks, an attack by
hogs, an attack by a ram, a cow falling on a child, and a horse bolting and
throwing a child off a wagon.
Falls accounted for six farm fatalities in 1997, compared with four in 1996
and one in 1995. Incidents included three falls from haymows; a fall inside
a silo; a fall down a silo chute; and a fall while hanging tobacco.
| January | 2 | July | 7 |
| February | 1 | August | 3 |
| March | 7 | September | 3 |
| April | 4 | October | 4 |
| May | 2 | November | 3 |
| June | 2 | December | 3 |
In 1997, farm-related fatalities were reported in 26 counties. Four counties had three fatalities, seven counties had two fatalities, and 15 counties had one fatality.
| Chippewa | 1 | Lafayette | 2 |
| Clark | 1 | Lincoln | 1 |
| Columbia | 1 | Marathon | 3 |
| Dane | 1 | Outagamie | 1 |
| Door | 3 | Ozaukee | 1 |
| Dunn | 3 | Pierce | 1 |
| Grant | 1 | Polk | 2 |
| Green | 2 | Rock | 1 |
| Green Lake | 1 | Sheboygan | 2 |
| Iowa | 2 | Trempealeau | 3 |
| Jackson | 1 | Vernon | 1 |
| Jefferson | 1 | Waushara | 2 |
| Kewaunee | 1 | Wood | 2 |
Thirty-seven (90.2%) of the victims were males, and four (9.8%) were females. The ages of the females were 17 months, 5, 35, and 47.
Persons age 65 and older accounted for 12 (29.3%) of the victims; the age category 25-44 also accounted for 12 (29.3%). Six 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 | 7.3% |
| 5 - 9 | 1 | 2.4% |
| 10 - 14 | 2 | 4.9% |
| 15 - 19 | 0 | 0.0% |
| 20 - 24 | 1 | 2.4% |
| 25 - 44 | 12 | 29.3% |
| 45 - 64 | 10 | 24.4% |
| 65+ | 12 | 29.3% |
| Total | 41 | 100.0% |
Clippings from Wisconsin daily and weekly newspapers; Wisconsin Division of Health, Center for Health Statistics death certificate registry; National Agricultural Statistics Service Farm Labor Reports.
July 1998