Tommy\'s Troubles

Answer Key

[Instructions]{.underline}

Compare your answers to the answers and ideas listed in this key.

Discuss the answers and any differences in ideas with your friends and
the instructor.

Your ideas are important and can help improve this exercise for other
people. Your answers will be studied along with many other people\'s
answers to improve the exercise.

[Question A]{.underline}

  ------- ------- ----- ----------------------------------------------------------
  **A**           1\.   Because of the weeds, Tommy can\'t see the ground.

          **D**   2\.   Unlikely. Modern tractors are designed to prevent setting
                        fires. Older utility tractors with belly exhausts pose a
                        greater danger.

  **A**           3\.   Wasps and bees nest in weeds. Stings can cause injury or
                        death.

  **A**           4\.   Striking such objects can flip the tractor or throw the
                        driver.

  **A**           5\.   Dead branches can fall and injure or kill the driver if
                        the tractor or mower bumps into a tree.
  ------- ------- ----- ----------------------------------------------------------

[Question B]{.underline}

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  [√]{.underline}   6\.   Tommy probably wouldn\'t wear the belt. Studies in
                          Kentucky suggest that only 20% of persons who have ROPS
                          and seat belts on their tractors actually wear the seat
                          belts.

  [?]{.underline}   7\.   Tommy would be more likely to wear the belt if (a) his dad
                          wore the belt and (b) if the belt were clean. Studies
                          suggest equipment operators don\'t like to wear dirty seat
                          belts.
  ----------------- ----- ----------------------------------------------------------

[Question C]{.underline}

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          **D**   8\.    He can\'t react this fast. His reflexes will cause him to
                         hang on.

          **D**   9\.    This won\'t help. The log has transferred the forward
                         motion of the tractor to a rolling-over motion.

          **D**   10\.   Tommy\'s mass is so small that shifting his weight won\'t
                         help.

          **D**   11\.   The tractor is flipping. Too little time to react and too
                         late to be effective.

  **A**           12\.   Things to prevent the rollover and injury had to be done
                         [before]{.underline} this instant. These include (a) Tommy
                         wearing the seat belt, (b) Tommy\'s father setting a good
                         example by always wearing his seat belt, (c) Tommy\'s
                         parents supervising his work, especially for a new and
                         difficult task, and (d) removing or marking hazardous
                         objects in pastures and fields.
  ------- ------- ------ ----------------------------------------------------------

[Question D]{.underline}

  ------- ------- ------ ----------------------------------------------------------
          **D**   13\.   With the seat belt properly fastened he
                         [won\'t]{.underline} be thrown.

          **D**   14\.   The seat belt will hold him in the frame of safety
                         provided by the ROPS, and the tractor won't crush him.

          **D**   15\.   Studies show that wearing a seat belt during a crash keeps
                         people from being injured. If there is a fire, they have a
                         better chance to escape than does an unbelted person, who
                         is more likely to be injured, disabled, or unconscious.

  **A**           16\.   Bruising is likely, serious injury much less likely. The
                         fastened seat belt and ROPS keep the driver in a frame of
                         safety.

          **D**   17\.   The seat belt will hold him in the frame of safety
                         provided by the ROPS, and he won\'t be cut or crushed by
                         the bushhog.

  **A**           18\.   Overturning a tractor is a serious situation. Even if
                         Tommy isn\'t hurt, he will probably miss the ball game.
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[Question E]{.underline}

  ------- --- ------ ----------------------------------------------------------
  **A**       19\.   [Without]{.underline} the seat belt fastened, he is likely
                     to be thrown from the tractor.

  **A**       20\.   [Without]{.underline} the seat belt to hold him in the
                     frame of safety provided by the ROPS, he could be thrown
                     and crushed by the tractor.

  **A**       21\.   During an overturn [without]{.underline} a seat belt, he
                     may bump his head, be pinned, or be disabled and unable to
                     escape if there were a fire.

  **A**       22\.   Because of the heavy equipment and large forces, Tommy
                     could be seriously injured. Without a fastened seat belt,
                     he may not stay in the frame of safety provided by the
                     ROPS.

  **A**       23\.   Without the belt, he could be thrown off when the tractor
                     wheel hits the log. Being thrown off a tractor and being
                     run over by the trailing bushhog is a type of fatality
                     that occurs regularly in Kentucky. (See the official
                     fatality report summary in the box below.)
  ------- --- ------ ----------------------------------------------------------

  ------- --- ------ ----------------------------------------------------------
  **A**       24\.   Overturning a tractor is a serious problem, especially if
                     the operator is not wearing a seat belt. Tommy would
                     probably miss this game and perhaps many other games; he
                     might never get to another game.

  ------- --- ------ ----------------------------------------------------------

[Question F]{.underline}

+------+----+----------------------------------------------------------+
| [√]  | 27 | Correct! This 33% statistic reported by Murphy (1992, p. |
| {.un | \. | 65) is based on a study of farm fatalities in 31 states. |
| derl |    | This study included all ages of persons killed in farm   |
| ine} |    | accidents. Males age 14 to 19 and over 65 are at higher  |
|      |    | risk of fatal injuries from tractors. (See Figure 1 on   |
|      |    | page 5.)                                                 |
|      |    |                                                          |
|      |    | The proportion of tractor-related fatalities in Kentucky |
|      |    | is nearly two times higher than the national average.    |
|      |    | Kentucky FACE investigations of farming deaths found     |
|      |    | that 94 (61%) of the 153 total farm fatalities from      |
|      |    | 1994-97 were tractor-related. (See Figure 2 on page 5.)  |
+------+----+----------------------------------------------------------+

[Question G]{.underline}

+------+----+----------------------------------------------------------+
| [√]  | 33 | Correct! This 48% statistic is based on a national study |
| {.un | \. | done by McKnight & Hetzel in 1985 and reported in Murphy |
| derl |    | (1992, p. 61).                                           |
| ine} |    |                                                          |
|      |    | Farm Bureau news clippings from the state of Kentucky    |
|      |    | from 1983 to 1992 suggest that 71.8% of all farm-tractor |
|      |    | fatalities were from overturns.                          |
|      |    |                                                          |
|      |    | Kentucky FACE investigations found that tractor          |
|      |    | overturns accounted for 59% of all farm-tractor          |
|      |    | fatalities during the 1994-97 four-year period           |
+------+----+----------------------------------------------------------+

[Question H]{.underline}

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  [√]{.underline}   35\.   Correct! This statistic is based on a study by Bechanan in
                           1993. Only 30% of the farm tractors in two central
                           Kentucky counties were equipped with ROPS. Only 20% of
                           drivers of ROPS-equipped tractors used the seat belts
                           (0.20 x 0.30 = 0.06 or 6%). In 1997 University of Kentucky
                           researchers again found these same percentages when a
                           random sample of 1,648 farmers from four additional
                           Kentucky counties were interviewed. (See Figure 3 on page
                           6 for a graph of these data.)

  ----------------- ------ ----------------------------------------------------------

![](media/image1.wmf){width="4.832638888888889in"
height="3.415277777777778in"}

Figure 1: Percent of farm fatalities related to tractors and all other
causes in 31 US states (Murphy, 1992, p. 65)

![](media/image2.wmf){width="5.405555555555556in"
height="3.5145833333333334in"}

Figure 2: Percent of farm fatalities related to tractors and all other
causes in Kentucky, 1994-97 (Unpublished KY FACE data, 1998)

Kentucky Tractor Operators Unprotected and

Protected by ROPS and Seat Belts

![](media/image3.wmf){width="3.595833333333333in" height="5.525in"}

Figure 3: Percent of Kentucky farm tractor operators unprotected and
protected by ROPS and seat belts

**References**

Bechanan, D. A. (1993). Attitudes and decision-making in regard to seat
belt usage on ROPS-equipped tractors in central Kentucky. Unpublished
paper. Lexington, KY: University of Kentucky.

Cole, H. P., Westneat, S., Browning, S. (1998). Preliminary results of a
pre-intervention survey of principal farm operators' demographics,
beliefs, and practices related to farm tractor ROPS, seat belts, and
extra riders. Lexington, KY: Southeast Center for Agricultural Health
and Injury Prevention, Department of Preventive Medicine & Environmental
Health, University of Kentucky, (CDC/NIOSH Cooperative Agreement
U06/CCU412900-01)

[Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation]{.underline} (FACE)
Project (1994-1998). University of Kentucky, Kentucky Injury Prevention
and Research Center, 333 Waller Avenue, Suite 200, Lexington, KY
40504-2915. Telephone (859) 257-4955. See the Center web page for
Kentucky farm fatality investigation reports.
**http://www.kiprc.uky.edu/**

Kentucky Farm Bureau news clipping files, 1983 to 1992. Unpublished
report about farm tractor fatalities.

McKnight, R. H. & Hetzel, G. H. (1985). Trends in farm machinery
fatalities. [Agricultural Engineering]{.underline}, [55]{.underline}(5),
15-17.

Murphy, D. J. (1992). [Safety and health for production
agriculture]{.underline}. St. Joseph, MI: ASAE.

Piercy, L. R. & Stallones, L. (1984). [Fatal accidents on Kentucky
farms]{.underline}. Paper presented at the 1984 winter meeting of the
American Society of Agricultural Engineers, New Orleans, Hyatt Regency,
December 11-14.

Travis, C. (1993). We kill too many farm kids. *Successful Farming,*
February issue.