Fatalities associated with farm tractor injuries: an epidemiologic study.

Death certificates were used as a source of information to characterize fatalities associated with farm tractor injuries in Georgia for the period 1971-81. In this period, 202 tractor-associated fatalities occurred among residents of Georgia; 198 of these persons were males. The annual tractor-associated fatality rate for males based on the population of male farm residents was 23.6 per 100,000; rates of fatal injury increased with age for this population. Persons whose primary occupation was other than farming accounted for more than half of all tractor-associated deaths. Fatal injuries occurred throughout the year but predominantly during the planting and harvesting months. Injuries occurred throughout the day (7 a.m. to midnight), with a peak at 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Most fatal injuries, 76 percent, resulted when tractors overturned. Fatalities were attributed to crushed chest, exsanguination, strangulation or asphyxia, drowning, and other injuries. Current safety standards for the operation of farm tractors are limited; rollover protective canopies are not required for farm owners or their family members. Descriptive epidemiologic information obtained from death certificates can be used to define injury determinants and to suggest approaches for the further study and prevention of specific types of injuries.