Baler positions before and after the collapse.

A recent fatal accident highlighted one of the dangers of working underneath machinery.

What happened

A 43-year-old farmer was adjusting the height of a Vermeer 504 I silage baler drawbar so that it would fit his new tractor.

The deceased had climbed underneath the baler to loosen two spline nuts to adjust the height of drawbar of the baler to match the new tractor's coupling.

When the nuts securing the spline were loosened, the drawbar and the baler collapsed downward onto the deceased crushing him between the baler chassis and the ground.

Safe work practices

• Ensure a heavy duty jack is used and in the correct position to keep loads elevated.
  Do not enter an area made hazardous by raised objects unless a jack is in place.
• Securely block equipment any time a person is working underneath it.

Baler with jack stand in the correct position on the chassis.

New balers

A range of baler makes and models were inspected after this accident. Most of them use the same type of spline to hold the drawbar in place.

Jack attachments were a permanent fixture to this particular baler's chassis.

Releasing the spline bolts with the baler drawbar attached to the tractor coupling without the jack being wound down into position would result in most balers collapsing downward as happened in this accident.

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Issued by the Department of Labour, New Zealand
http://www.osh.dol.govt.nzs

No. 23 - March 2007