The accident investigation below was opened on Monday, June 19th 2017 by OSHA representitives in Holtville, CA after learning of an incident at Triple I Press which had occured on Saturday, June 17th 2017. A 49 year old Laborer had been killed when the tractor driver was ejected, died from head injury
Accident Date2017-06-17
Accident DegreeFatality
NarrativeAt 12:00 p.m. on June 17, 2017, Employee #1 and Coworker #1, employed by an agricultural company, were each driving John Deere tractors down a dirt road, headed to hay fields they had been assigned to rake. The tractors would be used to pull hay rakes. Coworker #1 subsequently reported that he witnessed Employee #1, who was driving a John Deere 2755, veer off the road and into a concrete canal. Employee #1 was ejected from the tractor and hit his head. Employee #1 was conscious and bleeding. Emergency services were called. When the emergency personnel arrived, Employee #1 was unconscious. He was flown to a hospital, where he died from blunt impact injury to his head. Employee #1 may have lost control of the tractor due to a stroke. The subsequent investigation determined that Employee #1's seat belt was not in working order.