FARM ACCIDENT
ATTORNEY OREGON

Farming is, by nature, dangerous work- physical labor, operating big, bulky machinery that is often poorly maintained, working in dim light or in bad weather. When injured while working in agriculture, you may be entitled to a worker’s compensation claim. If you were injured in a tractor rollover or an accident involving defects in machinery, you may be additionally entitled to a product liability Oregon personal injury award or settlement. Greg Veralrud is an Oregon personal injury attorney that specializes in Oregon personal injury cases such as farming accidents.

 

Common Types of Farm Accidents

Tractor Accidents

Accidents involving tractors are some of the most common Oregon farming accidents. Tractor rollovers are a leading cause of farm accident deaths in Oregon. While manufacturers understand the risk of tractor rollovers and the injuries they can cause, they have been slow to implement safety measures to prevent them. Many tractors still do not have rollover bars that protect the tractor’s operator in the event of a rollover.

Hay Baler Accidents

According to the National Safety Council, about half of reported machine-related farming injuries involve a hay baler. Hay baler accidents most commonly are one of the following:

• getting pulled into the hay baler while threading it
• getting trapped by the hay baler’s moving parts
• getting tangled up by incorrectly guarded power take-off shafts

Corn Picker Accidents

Corn pickers are pulled by a tractor and harvest corn by separating the ear of corn from its stalk. Corn picker accidents often lead to finger and hand amputations.

Auger Accidents

Augers are used to collect and move grain. Auger injuries are often caused by entanglements in the auger’s moving parts, and often lead to lacerations, fractures, and amputations.

Farm Structure Falls

Injuries from farm structure falls can be slip-and-fall injuries, where workers are negligently exposed to dangerous (slippery or uneven) conditions and injure themselves, or injuries sustained by falling off of unsafe structures, machinery, and buildings.

Negligence and Its Part in Oregon Farm Accidents

While some Oregon farming injuries are unpreventable and tragic accidents, there are many Oregon farm industry accidents that could have been prevented if not for the negligence of a person or entity. Here are a few examples of how Oregon farm accidents may have been caused by another person’s negligence:

• A farm equipment company does not provide adequate instructions or put adequate warnings on their products or machinery.
• Machinery or other farming equipment is defective and/or dangerous.
• Someone removes safety devices, such as shield or rollover bars, from a piece of equipment.
• An Oregon farm employer fails to properly train workers to use farm equipment.
• An Oregon farm employer continues to use a faulty or broken piece of equipment.
• An Oregon farm employer fails to do maintenance and upkeep on his farming structures and fails to warn workers when they become dangerous.

Finding the Right Oregon Personal Injury Lawyer for You

If you have recently been injured in an Oregon farming accident, then you may be entitled to compensation. Call Greg Veralrud today for a free and 100% confidential phone consultation. You will get to meet our legal team, and we will get to know you, listen to your story, explain to you your legal options, and give you our best legal advice for moving forward. With most cases, we can take cases on a contingency basis, which means you will not get charged a single dollar in legal fees until we win you an award or settlement.

 

Additional Resources

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Agriculture Safety Tips and Resources

Oregon Department of Agriculture Website

Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division