You Can’t Ignore the Value of Litigation

This article of interest explores the dangers of being a farmer, but ignores the contribution of civil trial lawyers. With this I take exception.

This article written by Rick Ruggles of the World-Herald out of Omaha, explores the dangers, past and present, of farming in rural America. While the article points to engineering as making farming safer it fails to point out how lawyers have contributed to pressuring the re-engineering of farm equipment to make it safer. Like it or not, lawsuits have done much to making farming a safer profession. The two examples that first come to mind are unshielded PTO shafts and augers along with tractors sold without rollover protection (ROPS). Those three pieces of farm machinery did more damage to limbs and took more lives than probably any other dangers. Manufacturers packed the standard writing organizations with like-minded engineers who argued changes weren’t feasible. Farmers continued to die while lawyers poured their own funds into litigation suing manufacturers to force loftier engineering standards that ultimately resulted in safer farming equipment.

So say you hate us all you want, but we ain’t going away. And as personal injury lawyers we know better than to simply catalogue the progress without following the money; our money and what it’s done for farm safety.

Farm Dangers and Accident Causes

• Suffocation from quick sand like corn or beans in a bin
• Unshielded PTO shafts
• Tractors on uneven ground and rolling over crushing the driver
• Unshielded Auger Power Shafts
• Being kicked by an animal
• Being overtaken by cold weather in an unprotected location
• Being crushed by machinery
• Losing a limb from working around pinch points and other moving parts
• Being overcome by anhydrous ammonia
• Falling from heights without a fall protection harness
• Being in an accident on the rural farm-to-market roads while driving heavy equipment
• Dying from exhaustion after putting in long hours during harvest

---

 

NSC: Data Still Shows Dangers of Farming, Editorial Staff

Danger on the farm, Rick Ruggles, World-Herald Staff Writer

Farmed And Dangerous, Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform

Accidents a reminder of farming dangers, Jennifer Ewoldt, The Quad-City Times

Farm Safety, Kids Health

The Dangers of Farming, Local Harvest

The Dangers of Industrial Farming, Bryan Welch, Mother Earth News