Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302754874 - Sunbelt Farms

Inspection Information - Office: Wichita Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 10:00 a.m. on July 29, 1999, Employee #1, a farm worker, a truck driver, and farm tractor operator were involved in loading square alfalfa bales on to a flatbed semi tractor trailer to be transported to another farm located in Oklahoma. The farm tractor operator has successfully loaded 15 bales of hay weighing approximately 1,800 lbs. onto the tractor trailer. The farm tractor operator was attempting to pick-up the final bale needed to finish the load; but the top bale of a four bale high stack started to lean outward towards the outside of the open sided barn. The farm tractor operator realized that he was not going to be able to pick up the bale and made the decision to go to the outside of the barn and attempted to pick-up the top bale from the opposite direction. As the farm tractor operator went to the other side of the bale stack, Employee #1 and a truck driver positioned themselves behind the four-bale high stack out of site of the farm tractor operator. The truck driver and Employee #1 did this to take moisture readings off of some other bales of alfalfa. The farm tractor operator was not able to see the truck driver or Employee #1 and once again tried to snag the top bale of alfalfa and in so doing, the top two bales fell pinning Employee #1 between the bales of alfalfa that fell and the bales where they were taking moisture readings. The truck driver was crushed by the hay. Employee #1 sustained a severed spine just below the scapula region of her back and was hospitalized. The truck driver working for a family farm of less than 10 employees was sustained massive internal injuries to his trunk and torso and was pronounced dead at the accident scene by the county coroner.

Keywords: PINNED, FARM MACHINERY, CRUSHED, TRUCK, BALER, TRACTOR, TRUCK DRIVER