Potential dangers of hay bailing

Individuals engaged in farming have higher risks of injury and death from trauma than many other workers. Fatalities most often involve tractor-related incident such as roll-overs. Although it is also recognized that farm machinery may result in serious injuries and death, little has been reported on problems associated with hay baling, transport and storage. Case 1: A 43-year-old man trying to dislodge jammed hay in a hay baler had either been pulled, or had fallen, into the baler, where he had been crushed, rotated and then cocooned within a hay bale. The body showed extensive blunt trauma to the head, neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis and limbs, with burning from a fire that subsequently started within the overheated machine. Case 2: A 58-year-old man was crushed between the moving arms of a hay shuttle and a safety fence. Death was attributed to blunt chest and abdominal trauma with crush asphyxia. Case 3: A 56-year-old man fell some distance from the top of stacked hay bales fracturing his neck and causing virtual transection of his cervical spinal cord. These cases demonstrate rare forms of farm deaths that may be associated with the creation (baling), moving (shuttling) and storage of hay bales. All forms of farm machinery should be treated circumspectly, given the possibility that serious injury or death may result from inattention or inappropriate handling. Temporary stacking of hay bales may create high work platforms that risk falls with lethal consequences.Cheryl Charlwood, Roger W. Byar