NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Another farm tractor fatality in Indiana shows why mishaps on the machines are one of the leading causes of death in the agriculture industry.
Human error apparently was to blame for the latest death. Jimmie Adams, 76, was killed May 3 near Noblesville, in the central part of the state near Indianapolis. According to police, Adams was working on the tractor in a field and didn’t realize it was still in gear.
The tractor was moving forward when Adams slipped while trying to hop back on and fell in its path. He was run over by the tractor, which continued on and hit other farm machinery, police said. Adams was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to his obituary, Adams was a lifelong farmer and collector of Farmall tractors and toy tractors. He leaves behind his wife of 58 years, Barbara.
The accident is similar to a fatality that happened in late January in the northern part of the state that involved a man working on a tractor also left in gear.
Kenneth Bailey, 78, was spraying starting fluid into the intake of his farm tractor to help get the engine to fire on his property in Hanna.
The tractor was still in gear when the engine started and ran over Bailey who wound up pinned between the back tire and drag box. He was on the ground facing the tire as the tire was spinning, and mudslinging from the tire filled up his mouth and nostrils, causing him to suffocate, authorities said.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 500 agricultural deaths in 2013, with about 40 percent of all the fatalities involving tractors.
Brad Kruse, agriculture safety and rescue instructor for The National Education Center for Agricultural Safety in Peosta, Iowa, said some of the tractor-related fatalities could be prevented by not engaging in what’s called by-pass starting. That’s when farmers ground the starter with a screwdriver or some other metal object to start the tractor instead of climbing into the cab and turning the ignition.
Kruse said starters are usually a short distance from one of the back tires, and if the tractor is in gear when the starter turns and fires the engine, a farmer is practically helpless to get out of the way of the tire. "They don’t have a chance to get away from the unit," Kruse said.
Kruse said tractors now are made with covers over the starter to prevent such starting practices, but some farmers remove the cover to avoid having to climb back up on the cab to start the engine. He said education is the key to stopping a practice often handed down from generation to generation.
"The habit has been, ‘granddad did it this way. Dad did it this way. We’re going to do it this way.’ It’s just that education to remember to take that tractor out of gear," Kruse said.
In addition, tractor rollovers are blamed for many fatalities, but modern tractors are now equipped with rollover protection structures. Other newer farm machines like combines automatically shut off the engine and other moving parts whenever the driver gets out of the seat.
But, there are farmers who put heavy objects on the seat to fool the machine into continuing to run while they step out to fix a problem, and that’s when a tragedy can quickly strike, Kruse said. Some farmers don’t buckle up on a tractor. Even with a rollover protection structure, without a seat belt on they’re still vulnerable from getting tossed around if the tractor overturns.
"The equipment is getting safer. Unfortunately, we’re our own worst enemy a lot of the times," Kruse said.
Kruse said agricultural is much safer than it was years ago, but it’s still at or close to the top in terms of dangerous occupations.
"We try to educate as much as we can."
