# Presentation: 201441

## What’s a ROPS?

*ROPS - Rollover*
*Protective Structure*
*During an overturn *
*a ROPS and seat belt*
*hold the operator in*
*a “frame of safety.”*

## Demonstrating how a ROPS works

## How a ROPS and seat belt work

- During an overturn the operator stays
- within the ROPS “frame of safety.”

- A fastened seat belt holds the
- operator on the tractor seat.

## Living dangerously (no ROPS, no seat belt)

## An overturn without a ROPS

## Overturns without ROPS are deadly

## Partially protected (ROPS but no seat belt)

## Why fasten the seat belt?

*the difference between life and death*

*Why fasten the seat belt?*

## Effectiveness of ROPS & seat belts

- In this case, the ROPS saved his life. A
- buckled seat belt would have saved his legs,
- prevented huge medical bills, and a permanent disability.

- A ROPS alone greatly reduces the risk of being
- killed during an overturn compared to a tractor
- without a ROPS. Add a fastened seat belt and the operator is usually not injured in an overturn.

- ROPS

- Together ROPS and fastened seat belts are 98% effective in preventing injury and death during tractor overturns.

## A tough quiz!

*A tough quiz!*

**What happened to these farmers?**

## These 76 Kentucky farmers died in tractor overturns in 1994-99.

**All 108. Don't become a grim statistic. Get a ROPS and buckle up!**

**These 76 Kentucky farmers died in tractor overturns in 1994-99.**

**Another 32 farmers died when they fell off moving tractors.**

## Tractor overturns	76
Thrown from tractor and run over	25
Thrown from tractor but not run over	7
Highway motor vehicle & tractor collisions**	2
Total deaths	110
Potential lives saved by ROPS &  seat belts 	108

	*KY Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) data 1994-99.
	**	These two collisions involved large vehicles traveling at high speed. 	ROPS and seat belts might not have prevented these two deaths. 		

*Thrown from tractor and run over**	**25*
*Thrown from tractor but *_*not*_* run over**	**7*
*Highway motor vehicle & tractor collisions****	**2*
*Total deaths**	**110*
*Potential lives saved by ROPS** &  **seat belts **	****108***
- 	*KY Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) data 1994-99.
*	***	These two collisions involved large vehicles traveling at high speed. 	ROPS and seat belts might not have prevented these two deaths.

*ROPS & seat belts could have saved 108 lives**

## Kentucky farmers at risk-1996

*In 1996, the KY fatality rate in Ag/Forestry/Fishing was ****2.8 times**** the national rate.*
*In KY, nearly all of these deaths were farming related.*

## Tractor-related farm deaths

## Lifetime chance of an overturn

*1 in 9 Kentucky farmers age 55 or older have overturned a tractor and lived*
*1/3 of these survivors have had two or more overturns*
*many of these persons were injured*
*some received minor injuries*
*some received severe injuries*
*some were permanently disabled*

## Use of ROPS on Kentucky farms

## Of 100 Kentucky farmers who drive tractors

*only 6 are fully protected by ROPS and seat belts *

## another 24 farmers who drive tractors with ROPS

*don’t wear their seat belts*

*another 24 farmers who drive tractors with ROPS*
*don’t wear their seat belts*

## another 70 farmers are unprotected because they

*drive tractors without ROPS and seat belts*

*Risky business!*