By KAREN BINDER
Illinois Correspondent

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Despite the Midwest’s high rate of tractor rollover deaths, a popular roll bar safety program in Northeast states will likely never be offered in the Midwest, says an agriculture safety expert.

 New Hampshire, New York and Vermont last fall and Pennsylvania this month offered a program developed in New York called “Rebates for Rollbars.” It is designed to reduce rollover risk by offering rebates of up to 70 percent of the cost to install tractor crush-proof roll bars and seat belts that provide protection from such accidents. The main targets are older tractors.

Tractor rollovers are the leading cause of farm-related deaths, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). A total of 1,538 agricultural workers died from tractor overturns between 1992-2007, according to a NIOSH study published last year.

A 2009 NIOSH study also shows that tractor turnovers were highest in the Midwest and the Northeast between 1992-2007, at 6.83 and 6.81 per 100,000 workers respectively, compared with 4.77 in the South and 1.4 in the West. Researchers say the steepness and hilliness of farmed terrain largely accounts for the differences in rollover rates. Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio have some the highest incidence rates.

“That makes sense when you consider that the most tractors are operated in these states,” said Bill Field, a Purdue University professor in agricultural and biological engineering.

Field explained he “doesn’t know anyone who handles the cost of retrofitting 50,000 to 60,000 tractors in each of these states. It’s simply cost-prohibitive in this day and age.”

Regardless of an offer for a rebate program, Field believes all ag states should promote installation of roll bars on older tractors (they are standard equipment on newer tractors). He also pointed out that anywhere from a quarter to a third of deaths related to tractor rollovers involve part-time and hobby farmers, who commonly use older tractors.

Besides adding the safety equipment, he also suggests ensuring more education on safe work practices be shared.

“The biggest portion of the tractor fatalities is either rolls to the side or flips on tractors,” John May, of the Northeast Center for Agricultural and Occupational Health, explained in a press release.

He noted that roll bars and seat belts are 99 percent effective in preventing rollover deaths, while the roll bar alone prevents more than 70 percent.
The Rebates for Rollbars program pays farmers 70 percent of the cost of safety equipment — up to $765 — and offers a toll free help line where they can order gear. Money to run the program in the Northeast comes through grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the rebates are funded with contributions from interested parties, such as insurance companies.
There is good news: NIOSH reports state that deaths from tractor rollovers fell from 5.5 deaths per 100,000 workers in 1992 to 3.6 in 2007, the most recent data available.