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What Are the Dangers of Farm Equipment?

The agricultural industry poses a high risk for workers. Between 1992 and 2007, more than 8000 farmers died as a result of work-related injuries; 456 farmers and farm workers were killed in equipment-related accidents in 2008 alone, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Understanding the dangers of farm equipment and taking proper safety precautions can mean the difference between life and death.

  1. Pinch Points

    • Pinch points exist where two parts of machinery come together and one part is moving in a circle. Examples include chain drives, belt drives, gear drives and feeder rolls. A hand caught in a pinch point can cause loss of a hand. Clothing caught in a pinch point can drag other body parts into the machinery and lead to an even more deadly hazard.

    Wrap Points

    • Where there is an exposed, rotating shaft, there is a wrap point. There is no escape once hair, clothing or a body part is caught in the shaft. Splined, square and hex-shaped shafts are most likely to wrap hair or clothing, but even smooth rotating shafts can grab and wrap. Wrap point hazards exist when beaters and pickup reels are exposed or when a shaft end protrudes beyond bearings.

    Shear and Cutting Points

    • Shear points exist where the edges of two components move across each other like scissors. Cutting points are formed when an object moves forcefully enough to cut relatively soft material. Both are commonly found on harvesting equipment. Cut points are found in mowers, combine heads and forage choppers. Farmers are sometimes injured even if the machinery isn't moving if they put their hands near a blade or accidentally fall onto the blade.

    Crush Points

    • Crush points are created when two objects move toward each other, or when one object moves toward a stationary item. Injuries can occur when a body is squashed between two pieces of moving equipment. However, sometimes only one piece of equipment is moving when an injury occurs. For example, operating a tractor on a steep hill can cause a roll-over accident which can result in a crush injury or death.

    Pull-In Accidents

    • Pull-in accidents can happen if a farmer tries to hand feed material into an operating machine or if he tries to unclog an operating machine by hand. This is an instantly deadly mistake because feed rolls move fast and can pull a person in before he has time to let go.

    Freewheeling

    • One of the dangers of farm equipment is that machinery can continue to move for two minutes or more after it is shut off. Forage harvester cutterheads, hammermills, baler flywheels, rotary mowers and blower fans all have these "freewheeling" parts. An impatient farmer who puts her hand in to unclog a machine that has just been turned off may become severely injured.

    Thrown Objects

    • Certain farm equipment, like flail choppers and hammermills, can propel objects with great speed and force. The farmer, as well as anyone nearby the operating machinery, are sometimes injured by thrown objects, such as rocks and kernels.

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