Fatality Investigation: Orchard Worker Dies After Falling Off Tractor

A 25-year-old orchard laborer in Washington dies from injuries suffered after a rotary mower attached to a tractor runs him over.

On a morning in April 2013, a Washington-state orchard supervisor left the orchard to pick up tractor parts.

Before leaving, he asked a fellow worker to perform a task using a working tractor. When the supervisor returned at 10:00 a.m., he discovered that worker was severely injured.

At some point during the time the supervisor was gone, the employee had been run over by the mower attachment after falling off the tractor, suffering large cuts on the back of his head and arms.

A subsequent investigation conducted by the Washington State Fatality Assessment and Control (WA FACE) found the following:

The victim was using the tractor and mower attachment to cut the grass between rows of pear trees. The incident was not witnessed, but investigators believe that it is most probable that he fell when he attempted to dismount the tractor to retrieve his hat that may have been knocked off by a low hanging branch.

Read Full Article At Ehstoday.com

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