Inspection Detail

Inspection: 100567361 - Northern Great Plains Research Center - Usda/Ars

Inspection Information - Office: Bismarck Area Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was applying an herbicide to leafy spurge weeds using a rear mounted tank with spray bar mounted on a Massey Ferguson model 180 farm tractor. He was spraying on the side of a hill inside a coulee. The ground cover consisted of long slough and pasture grasses as well as leafy spurge, and the area was damp from recent rainfalls. While driving along the side of a hill, Employee #1 encountered a steep embankment with a 26 degree pitch, and the rear wheels began to lose traction on the wet grasses. The tractor overturned 180 degrees, trapping Employee #1 underneath one of its rear wheels and a fender, and crushing his chest. Employee #1 was killed. The 1967 model tractor was not equipped with a rollover protection device or an enclosed cab.

Keywords: CHEST, EMBANKMENT, PINNED, ROLL-OVER, WORK RULES, ROPS, STEEP GRADE, CRUSHED, SLIPPERY SURFACE, TRACTOR