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Copyright © 2001 Eastern Ontario Farmers Forum Inc. All Rights Reserved |
22 Ontario farm deaths last year
Tractor
is the biggest killer every year
GUELPH — The biggest killer on
farms is the tractor, which was involved in 11 of the 22 Ontario farm
fatalities in 2003. Last year’s fatalities include
three deaths in eastern Ontario and one in east-central Ontario. A tractor running over someone and
tractor roll-overs have been common killers since the invention of the
tractor. Typically, in any year tractors cause 50 per cent of farm
fatalities, said Farm Safety Association representative Sheila James. "Tractors are the most commonly
used farm instrument," she said. "A farm might have 1 baler, 1
raker and 2 or 3 tractors." There were also three deaths of
children on farms last year, all in western Ontario. Two deaths involved
tractors. The youngest victim, a two-year-old in Wellington County, was
run over by a tractor. The four fatalities east of Toronto
last year were:
• A 90-year-old Northumberland farmer, who was crushed when the tractor he was repairing moved forward Jan.21;
• 81-year-old Prince Edward County farmer, Harold Bigg, who was pinned by the tractor he was riding after it rolled over July 29;
• 39-year-old Steve Jubainville, of Prescott County, fell from a tractor May 14. Witnesses say Jubainville was getting back on his tractor on a county road near Curran, east of Ottawa, after dislodging a bird’s nest from the tractor engine. He fell off and a back tire rolled over him. The tractor turned over in a ditch about 300 feet away.
• 19-year-old Shawn Haystead, of Dundas County, was killed June 29 when the tractor he was riding flipped over.