Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1443527.015 - The Hanor Company Of Wisconsin, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Madison Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:15 a.m. on October 30, 2019, an employee was working at a hog and pig farm. He was working as a manager. He and a coworker were working outdoors, gathering up 6-inch (152-mm) lay-flat hose that had been used to transfer pig manure for application onto farm fields. He was helping the coworker pull the manure hose through a road culvert. The temperature was approximately 35 degrees F (2 degrees C), and winds were from the northwest at approximately 7 miles per hour (11 kph). The manure hose had been routed through a culvert beneath a county highway. The county highway ran in a north-south direction, and the manure hose was to be pulled in a westerly direction using a tractor. The east side of the highway was a forested area, and the two workers had laid out the empty hose in an S pattern across the ground between the highway and the forested area. Once the hose was positioned, the employee stood on the ground east of the highway as his coworker drove a New Holland tractor, with serial number JAW127245. The tractor was located approximately 0.125 miles (200 meters) west of highway. It was pulling the hose through the culvert. The employee was standing approximately 20 (6.1 meters) feet away from the culvert, when the hose got wrapped around his feet, pulling him into the culvert. The coworker felt resistance while pulling the hose and stopped the tractor. At that point, he heard screaming. He walked to the employee and found him at the culvert, injured. The employee had become entangled in the manure hose. He had been dragged by the hose, which had wrapped around his leg. He was hospitalized. He had suffered traumatic injuries to his right leg above the knee that resulted in the surgical amputation of the leg above the knee. Both workers had two-way radios for communication, but the employee was not able to reach his radio to notify his coworker of what was happening.

Keywords: Agriculture, Agriculture Machinery/Vehicle, Amputated, Amputation, Entangled, Farm, Farm Machinery, Farm worker, Foot, Hose, Leg, Pulled In, Surgical Amputation, Tractor