Pennsylvania farmers who hire help should use great diligence to provide safe working conditions. Although farming as an occupation is becoming less common, it is still one of the most dangerous jobs. One of the biggest reasons for its potential for serious injury or death is the automated nature of modern farming. Most modern farmers spend a lot of time on heavy machinery. When poorly equipped and lacking protective devices like roll bars or Roll-Over Protective Structures, these large implements can be deadly.
More accidents happen as a result of flipped tractors than any other farm-related accident. When a farmer is driving across a field, what appears to be in the distance a gentle slope can lie at enough of an angle to make a tractor's wheels lift off the ground and sometimes even tip the tractor. If a hill is very steep, the tractor could flip multiple times. A roll bar is designed to take the blow of the fall, preventing the operator from bearing the impact of the heavy machinery.
Unfortunately, many older tractors were designed without cabs or roll bars, and when these tractors tip, the results can be fatal. However, it's possible to add a roll bar to an old tractor. The costs of doing so are less when weighed against the potential of harm that could result from a flipped tractor. As young people assist their parents with farm work, the need for a roll bar becomes so obvious.
For Pennsylvania farmers, the possibility of Workplace Accidents can motivate them to get worker's compensation insurance and provide essential safety measures. Unfortunately, no amount of money can replace a life that is taken when negligence results in death.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Agricultural Safety", December 08, 2014
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