OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14342455
ALCOHOL,AGRICULTURE,CANAL,INTOXICATED,TRACTOR,DROWN,WATER
Event description
EMPLOYEE DROWNED AFTER DRIVING A FARM TRACTOR INTO A CANAL
Investigation abstract
EMPLOYEE #1 WAS SPRAYING PESTICIDES IN A CITRUS GROVE, USING A JOHN DEERE TRACTO Y ATTACHING A CHAIN TO THE TRACTOR. THE CO-WORKER HAD ATTACHED THE CHAIN FOR HIM . CHEMICAL ANALYSIS REVEALED A BLOOD ALCOHOL LEVEL OF O.99% FOR EMPLOYEE #1. AN ANALYSIS OF A NEHI BOTTLE OF LEMONADE, FOUND IN EMPLOYEE #1'S LUNCH BOX, SHOWED THE CONTENTS TO BE 1.8% ALCOHOL BY VOLUME. EMPLOYEE #1 HAD BEEN SUSPENDED FROM W ORK IN EARLY 1985 FOR REPORTING TO WORK IN AN INTOXICATED STATE. R, MODEL 2950, SER. #04630098CD. AN 8 FOOT DEEP CANAL RAN PERPENDICULAR TO HIS L INE OF TRAVEL. THE NORMAL TRAVEL SPEED WHILE SPRAYING IS 1 TO 1 1/2 MPH. THE TRA CTOR WAS EQUIPPED WITH AN AIR CONDITIONED CAB WITH ROPS, BUT HAD NO SEAT BELTS. EMPLOYEE #1 HAD STARTED WORK ABOUT 7:30 AM. AT ABOUT 9 AM EMPLOYEE #1 DROVE THE TRACTOR INTO THE CANAL AND DROWNED. NO EVIDENCE COULD BE FOUND OF A SUDDEN BRAKE APPLICATION, OR SUDDEN MOVEMENT OF THE STEERING WHEEL. THE EMPLOYEE HAD BEEN ST UCK IN A DITCH EARLIER AND HAD BEEN ASSISTED OUT OF THE DITCH BY A CO-WORKER. TH E CO-WORKER STATED THAT EMPLOYEE #1 LOOKED "BEAT", AND HAD EXPERIENCED DIFFICULT
Victim
-
#1 Fatality Age 53 M
- Nature of injury
- 2
- Part of body
- 28
- Event type
- 5
- Source
- 41
- Occupation code
- 999
- Human factor
- 1
- Environmental factor
- 18
- Task assigned
- 1
Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.