SAFETY DOWN ON THE FARM

You've made the turn at the end of the field many times.

But, this time, the back wheel of the tractor suddenly starts sliding, sinking. Your heart wells up in your throat as the tractor slowly starts to roll into the creek that borders the edge of the field. You leap from the seat. You're lucky ... this time.

No matter how careful people are, accidents happen, and often they happen on farms. Tractor rollovers account for more than 50 percent of all tractor-related accidents on the farm. It is a statistic that has remained constant for more than 50 years.

With more than 3.2 million men and women on America's 2.1 million farms, farming ranks among the top three most dangerous occupations in the nation, alternating with mining and construction.

In some years agriculture ranks at the top, according to the National Safety Council, which issues its "Accident Facts" each year.

More than 130,000 agricultural injuries and more than 1,000 farm deaths are reported each year. The count was even higher in the 1998 report. More than 140,000 injuries were reported nationally, 10 percent of them fatal.

In Missouri, more than 4,000 lost-time injuries and 35 to 40 farm deaths are reported each year. During a recent five-year farm-accident survey, Illinois recorded an average of 1,000 injury accidents and 30 fatalities a year.

The majority of agricultural fatalities occur in the production of crops and raising of livestock. The majority of machinery and equipment farm accidents, lost-time injuries and fatalities occur in the spring and fall.

The reason is simply because of the work. "In the spring and summer, farmers are preparing and planting their crops," said Terry Birk of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency office in Jackson. "A lot of hay baling goes on then."

Hay balers, say safety experts, cause more fatalities than any other farm equipment. Corn pickers cause more permanent injuries.

Most injuries in Missouri and Illinois are reported during harvest time -- September in particular -- when almost 20 percent of accidents occur, according to statistics from the Missouri Department of Agriculture Statistics Service.

June to July and September to October are high accident months. Tractor rollovers are numerous, especially during harvest time. The power take-off shaft, which turns at more than 500 revolutions a minute, is also a cause for accidents.

Farmers should keep the PTOs covered, say NSC spokesmen. Accidents happen when farmers try to clear a PTO that has been jammed. Studies show that a spinning PTO shaft can entangle and tear clothing at a rate of 5 to 7 feet a second.

Crown Equipment Co., an area farm machinery dealer who sponsors safety seminars periodically, also suggests PTO guards and rollover bars on tractors.

A number of leading tractor companies urge tractor owners to have their older tractors equipped with rollover protective structures and seat belts. Other safety measures for farm equipment include "slow-moving" emblems and working lights on equipment. Many deaths result from vehicles colliding with farm equipment.

Studies from a 35-state survey on farm accidents show seven of every 10 accidents include a male member of the family between the ages of 15 and 44. Two of 10 accidents involve hired male workers, and one of every 10 accidents involves a female.

Other findings of the Department of Agriculture survey:

-- Farm accidents are most likely to happen in a field in daylight when the temperature is 51 to 85 degrees on a clear day.

-- Fieldwork accounts for four of every 10 farm accidents, and machinery maintenance another three of every 10.

-- More accidents happen on Tuesdays, with the two most dangerous hours at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

-- About 300 people younger than 20 die in agricultural accidents each year.

-- Livestock causes 19 percent of farm injuries; machinery, other than tractors, 15 percent; and hand tools 11 percent.