Agriculture is considered on e of the nations most hazardous occupations with an estimated death rate of 21 per 100,000 workers in 1996. Many of these fatalities are due to tractor overturns. A review of agricultural fatalities concluded that """"""""tractor overturns (are) the leading cause of occupational traumatic death in the U.S. agricultural industry."""""""" Tractor rollover fatalities have been called an """"""""occupational obscenity"""""""" by NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) Director J. Donald Millar (NIOSH 1993). A rollover protective structure (ROPS), as described in ASAE S519, is a protective structure designed to minimize the frequency and severity of operator injury resulting form accidental tractor upset. RPS utilization has shown to have dramatic impacts in reducing fatalities during vehicle overturns. The overall objective of this project is to investigate and evaluate ROPS designs for agricultural tractors in the United States to provide operator protection on tractors and in operating conditions not currently available. The specific objectives include: developing an inventory of agricultural tractor ROPS availability (specifically for older tractors); prioritizing the agricultural tractor population for ROPS design feasibility; design, construction, and testing of ROPS for the two highest prioritized pre-ROPS tractors; conducting axle housing strength tests; conducting field upset tests on the NIOSH auto-ROPS; evaluating false deployment possibilities of the auto-ROPS; and presenting pre-ROPS tractor ROPS and auto-ROPS design and test results to commercial ROPS manufacturers for commercial construction and follow-up field testing.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01OH003612-02
Application #
6141413
Study Section
Safety and Occupational Health Study Section (SOH)
Project Start
1998-09-30
Project End
2001-09-29
Budget Start
1999-09-30
Budget End
2000-09-29
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Colorado State University-Fort Collins
Department
Engineering (All Types)
Type
Schools of Engineering
DUNS #
112617480
City
Fort Collins
State
CO
Country
United States
Zip Code
80523