Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Minnesota: Farmer Dies After Becoming Entangled in a Rotating Shaft of a Beet Lifter

摘要

A 20-year-old male farmer (victim) died after he became entangled in a rotating shaft of a beet lifter. On the day of the incident, the victim was harvesting beets in a farm field. The beet lifter was pulled by a farm tractor through the field to harvest beets. While harvesting beets a portion of the beet lifter known as the grab rollers became clogged with dirt. The victim stopped the tractor, disengaged the tractor's power-take-off and dismounted the tractor. Another worker who was in the field with a truck drove to the location to assist in cleaning the dirt from the lifter. They manually removed most of the dirt and then engaged the tractor's power-take-off. After engaging the power-take-off the victim dismounted the tractor while the lifter was operating. He walked to a location along one side of the machine and leaned over a rotating shaft. The rotating shaft had originally been covered by a shield however the shield was not in place at the time of the incident. While the victim leaned over the rotating shaft, his jacket was caught by it and became entangled in the shaft. The coworker climbed onto the tractor and disengaged the tractor's power-take-off. He checked the victim who was unresponsive and then used a two-way radio to notify family members of the incident. They placed a call to emergency personnel before proceeding to the field. Rescue personnel arrived at the scene shortly after being notified and pronounced the victim dead prior to freeing him.