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Ohio vet’s farm death grim reminder of need for safety
 

By DOUG GRAVES

Ohio Correspondent

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Earlier this month a veterinarian was killed on his family farm in Madison County. Dr. Austin Ayars, 34, was found dead inside a grain feed mixer at his dairy.

Ayars had been feeding cattle and was adding hay to the mixer, which was powered by a tractor. He lost his balance and fell in. The machine was supposed to be turned off when being fed hay or grain, but in this case the machine was not turned off.

Last fall, former Ohio U.S. Rep. James Traficant Jr., a 17-year veteran of Congress, died on a farm near Youngstown when his tractor flipped over on him. He was 73.

Two separate accidental farming-related deaths a few months earlier claimed the lives of 14-year-old Jonathon P. Ruffing and 62-year-old LeRoy Stotz. Ruffing was killed after falling into a feed mixer while working at a farm near his Sandusky County home. Stotz died the following day in Erie County when the lift platform he was on fell, causing him to strike his head on a tree.

In the past 10 years accidents have claimed the lives of other Ohio farmers. Warren Mumma, 68, of St. Paris, died after entering his grain bin to install a secondary auger and was trapped in a corn collapse. Spring Valley farmer Gary Wical, 61, lost both legs at the knees when his clothing got caught up in a power take-off shaft.

These deaths and injuries are a reminder of the perils that lurk on farms. According to Ohio State University extension statistics, the state averages about 17 farming deaths a year. According to Dee Jepsen, state safety leader for extension, many such accidents can be prevented.

"Two of the most well-publicized hazards on a farm are grain bins and silos," she said. "Grain bins only claim about 1/10 the lives that tractors do each year, but the grisly nature of these accidents gives them an outsize presence. A farm worker enters the bin for some mundane task, only to be overcome in a tidal rush of grain. The grain often both crushes and suffocates victims, leaving bits of corn or other grain embedded in the lungs.

"When you look at multiple grain bin accidents, patterns emerge: A farm worker needs to tend to something in the bin or check the condition of the stored grain. Over the winter, sections of grain can grow damp and clump together, creating what’s called a ‘crust’ at the top. The worker might attempt to break up the crust with a rod or a pick, only to end up sinking and becoming engulfed in the grain below. By the time rescue workers extract the victim, it’s usually too late."

According to Jepsen, farming is one of the deadliest professions in the world, with deaths attributed to other mishaps, such as tractor rollovers, deadly fumes, goring, electrocution, heatstroke, chemicals and drowning in ponds or manure pits. In the last 14 years there have been 2,174 farm deaths in the nation among those aged 19 and younger.

In an attempt to bring attention to hazards found on the farm, Jepsen and OSU extension’s Agricultural Safety and Health Program has been sponsoring Farm Safety Day Camps throughout the state.

6/25/2015