Citation

Suutarinen J. Int. J. Ind. Ergonomics 1992; 10(4): 321-329.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

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Abstract

The characteristics and prevention of tractor accidents were studied by using statistical data on 403 tractor accidents and case studies on 50 tractor accidents. Statistical analysis revealed that 42% of the accidents resulted from climbing into and out of the cab. Hitching and unhitching equipment correspondingly contributed to about 30% of the tractor accidents. The other 17 phases of work in the statistics contributed only a few percent of the accidents per phase. The most common injuries were strains, fractures and contusions. The type of injury and the injured part of the body correlated significantly with the number of lost working days. Also the age of the casualty, month and phase of work had direct or indirect influence on the number of lost working days. The type of injury dependend significantly on the month and the injured part of body. According to case studies, experience in agricultural work is generally not the problem, rather the lack of routine due to long work intervals was the problem in 30% of the cases. 26% of the tractors were in not more than fair condition and in 40% of the tractors' accesses to the cab were not in acceptable condition.