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`Summary of Documented Fatalities in Livestock Manure Storage and
`Handling Facilities-1975-2004
`Randy L. Beaver"; William E. Fieldb
`a Loss Control Representative for Nationwide AgriBusiness with an office in West Lafayette, IN b
`Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
`
`To cite this Article Beaver, Randy L and Field, William E.(2007) 'Summary of Documented Fatalities in Livestock Manure
`Storage and Handling Facilities-1975-2004', Journal of Agromedicine, 12: 2, 3 - 23
`To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1300/J096v12n02_02
`URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J096v12n02_02
`
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`
`Exhibit 1043
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`Page 1 of 22
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`ORIGINAL RESEARCH
`
`Summary of Documented Fatalities
`in Livestock Manure Storage and Handling Facilities-
`1975-2004
`
`Randy L. Beaver, MS
`William E. Field, EdD
`
`ABSTRACT. Data were compiled and analyzed on the estimated frequency and characteristics of
`deaths related to on-farm manure storage and handling facilities for the period of 1975 through
`2004. Sources included published government rep01ts, national and local media, on-line searches,
`published farm fatality rep01ts, and prior litigation. No prior research was identified that addressed
`the magnitude of the problem. nor documented evidence-based intervention strategics. Data from
`77 fatalities along with 21 severe injuries and 14 international fatality cases were identified. docu(cid:173)
`mented and coded for analysis. Analysis of the 77 fatalities showed that victim characteristics and
`causative factors did not reflect previously reported patterns; i.e., over half of the fatalities in(cid:173)
`volved dairy operations and 21 % involved persons under the age of 16. The largest percentage
`(34%) of deaths occurred to persons conducting repair or maintenance activities on manure han(cid:173)
`dling equipment, while the second largest group (22%) were attempting to perform a rescue of an(cid:173)
`other person. The most frequently identified cause of death was asphyxiation with elevated levels
`of sulfide levels in the blood noted in some cases. The peak period of incidents were during the hot(cid:173)
`test part of the summer and often associated with transferring of manure for application to crop
`ground. Recommendations included the need to revise ASABE EP470 Manure Storage Safety
`Practice to include engineering controls that would reduce the need for farmers and farm workers
`to enter spaces containing toxic manure-related gases. In addition, the need to educate owner/oper(cid:173)
`ators and employees concerning the hazards associated with agricultural manure storage structures
`and equipment, especially those classified as pcnnit-requircd confined spaces. should be consid(cid:173)
`ered, including the need for appropriate warnings and entry procedures. Incorporation of cmTcnt
`
`Randy L. Beaver is a Loss Control Representative for Nationwide AgriBusiness with an office in West Lafay(cid:173)
`ette, IN.
`William E. Field is Profes~or in the Department or Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University.
`West Lafayette, IN.
`Address correspondence to: William E. Field. Professor. Purdue University. Department of Agricultural and
`Biological Engineering, 225 S University Street, Wc~t Lafayette, IN 47907-2093 (E-mail: field@purdue.edu).
`The authors wish to thank the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health for a pilot grant to initiate
`this study and Purdue's Agricultural Safety and Health Program for financial support.
`
`Journal of Agromedicine, Vol. 12(2) 2007
`Available online at http://ja.haworthpress.com
`© 2007 by The Haworth Pre~~. Inc. All right~ rc~crvcd.
`doi:l O. l 300/J096vl 2n02_02
`
`3
`
`Exhibit 1043
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`Page 2 of 22
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`JOURNAL OF AGROMEDICINE
`
`OSHA confined space entry procedures into these facilities is also recomme?ded. dc'.i: 10. I ~00/
`J096v12n02_02 [Article copies available for a fee JiYJm The Haworth Document Deltve1)' Sernce: 1-800-
`HAWORTH. E-mail address: <docdelivery@haworthpress.com>Website:<http://www.HaworthPress.co111>
`© 2007 by '/11e llaworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved. 1
`
`KEYWORDS. Manure storage, agricultural gases. confined spaces, suffocation hazards. live(cid:173)
`stock housing, manure pit gases
`
`INTRODUCTION
`
`I amincUned to think some vo/at;/ewjd ;s
`given off by this carnerine offilth when
`workers disturb it . .. such e.fjluv;a ought,
`one would think, to impair the lungs.
`
`Dr. Bernardino Ramazzini
`(Father of Occupational Medicine)
`in De Morbis Artifh:um-1700
`
`For over 30 years, Purdue University's Agri(cid:173)
`cultural Safety and Health Program has gath(cid:173)
`ered data on incidents involving agricultural
`crop storage and handling facilities, the find:
`in(Ts of which have been reported elsewhere. 1-'
`Hiwever, because the criteria used to identify
`these cases included the keywords "confined
`space" and "suffocation," deaths and injuries
`identified through this data collection process
`also included cases involving other types of
`on-farm confined spaces, such as fuel and
`chemical storage tanks, silos, and livestock
`manure storage and handling facilities. With
`support from a National Institute for Occupa(cid:173)
`tional Safety and Health (NIOSH) pilot project
`(Trant, a study was undertaken to mine the
`Purdue database to identify and specifically ex(cid:173)
`plore fatalities and injuries associated with
`manure storage and handling facilities.
`The study was designed to develop a process
`to identify, document, code, and store for analy(cid:173)
`sis fatality and injury cases that involved
`on-farm manure storage and handling facilities,
`with an aim of gaining a better understanding of
`the primary causative factors. In addition, a
`comprehensive review of the literature was
`conducted to uncover other case studies and re-
`1 ated research so as to better assess the scope of
`the problem nationally. It is believed that the
`lack of quantitative data on deaths and injuries
`related to these facilities has not only been a sig(cid:173)
`nificant barrier to developing effective inter-
`
`vention strategies, but also has allowed for
`misperceptions to be perpetuated concerning
`the nature and magnitude of the problem.
`This article: ( 1) reports on the results of the
`literature review; (2) discusses briefly the
`study' s data-collection methodology; (3) sum(cid:173)
`marizes the findings from 56 documented ma(cid:173)
`nure facility-related cases (separated out of the
`Purdue database) involving 77 fatalities that
`occurred between 1975 and 2004 in the U.S.;
`( 4) draws conclusions from the summarized
`finding; and (5) sets forth recommendations,
`based on the findings, aimed at ensuring maxi(cid:173)
`mum safety around on-farm livestock manure
`storage and handling facilities.
`
`BACKGROUND
`AND LITERATURE REVIEW
`
`Over 35 years ago, in a presentation at the
`American Society of Agricultural Engineers
`(ASAE) annual meeting, Fletcher (1971)4 re(cid:173)
`ported that there appeared to be an increasing
`number of fatalities and injuries related to ma(cid:173)
`nure storage facilities, noting that the problem
`had been raised in European literature dating
`back to 1928. However, his effort to document
`cases via a survey of agricultural livestock
`waste and safety specialists resulted in identifi(cid:173)
`cation of "very few incidents."
`Research conducted since the 1970s has con(cid:173)
`firmed that fermenting or decomposing manure
`in confined spaces may lead to a buildup of
`toxic gases or to an oxygen deficient environ(cid:173)
`ment both of which can cause death to unpro(cid:173)
`tected workers.5,6 Studies by Morse7 (1981)
`and Donham8 (1982) reaffirmed this earlier
`work by quantifying the levels of hydrogen sul(cid:173)
`fide, methane, carbon dioxide, and ammonia
`found in manure storage facilities under vari(cid:173)
`ous circumstances. These researchers also
`began to identify specific cause-and-effect re-
`
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`Page 3 of 22
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`Original Research
`
`5
`
`lationships between exposure to manure-gen(cid:173)
`erated gases and fatalities, with Donham' s
`study reporting on six fatal cases and Morse's
`reporting on one death in a manure spreader
`tank.
`Field9 ( 1980) identified three types of ma(cid:173)
`nure storage systems in which in juries or deaths
`could potentially occur: (a) large manure stor(cid:173)
`age tanks located directly underneath the live(cid:173)
`stock housing area (Figure I); (b) manure stor(cid:173)
`age located away from the livestock housing
`area (e.g., open lagoon or pond) (Figure 2); and
`(c) above ground, silo-type, manure storage
`structures (Figure 3). He noted that, in all three
`systems, the manure is flushed from the live(cid:173)
`stock housing area with added water to increase
`its fluidity then agitated in the storage area by
`various means to form a liquid slurry. This
`slurry is pumped periodically from the storage
`area into applicator tanks or through irrigation
`systems for application on cropland as a valu(cid:173)
`able fertilizer and soil conditioner. Field reported
`on cases of asphyxiations and drownings but
`did not provide evidence concerning the actual
`scope of the problem; he also noted the poten(cid:173)
`tial for suffocation in manure tank wagons
`(Figure 4).
`In 198 L NIOSH 10 sent all state health de(cid:173)
`partments guidelines for the reporting of deaths
`
`associated with manure storage to the Office of
`Environmental Control at the Centers for Dis(cid:173)
`ease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sixteen
`such deaths were identified between 1980 and
`1986, resulting in NIOSH' s issuing "a request
`for assistance" notice. 11 The notice stated that
`"many deaths conthiue to occur as a result of
`entry into manure pUs" and cited two on-farm
`incidents in which a total of seven persons died,
`including would-be rescuers who were appar(cid:173)
`ently unaware of the hazards posed by manure
`handling and storage facilities. However, it did
`not provide useful data on the scope or fre(cid:173)
`quency of the problem, or significant causative
`factors.
`The problem of rescues from manure storage
`facilities was recognized by Baker et al. 12 in
`"Responding to Agricultural Emergencies," a
`publication designed for emergency first re(cid:173)
`sponders. The authors noted that the most haz(cid:173)
`ardous and common types of manure storage
`rescues involved below-ground manure stor(cid:173)
`age pits, usually under hog or dairy confine(cid:173)
`ment buildings. They further reported that
`these events have often been made worse when
`others have attempted to carry out rescues with(cid:173)
`out appropriate precautions and have become
`secondary victims.
`
`FIGURE 1. Manure storage located beneath livestock housing area.
`
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`Exhibit 1043
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`Page 4 of 22
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`6
`
`JOURNAL OF AGROMEDICINE
`
`FIGURE 2. Open lagoon manure storage.
`
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`N
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`
`FIGURE 3. Above ground, silo-type manure storage.
`
`Popendorf11 reported that he had measured
`H7S levels as high as 1500 ppm in manure pits
`beneath hog containment buildings. This is 15
`times above the 100 ppm IDLH published in the
`Fundamentals of Industrial Hygiene. 14 He
`
`noted that deaths related to manure storage of(cid:173)
`ten involved multiple victims.
`Crowley, 15 reported at the 1991 Surgeon
`General's Conference on Agricultural Safety
`and Health that there was a need for devices to
`
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`Original Research
`
`7
`
`FIGURE 4. Liquid manure transport tank wagon.
`
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`
`detect hazardous atmospheres in agricultural
`workplaces due to frequent reports concerning
`suffocations in confined spaces such as manure
`pits. His findings, however, were not supported
`with data on the scope of the problem.
`In 1992, the American Society of Agricul(cid:173)
`tural Engineers' 16 Swine Housing Committee
`developed a "Manure Storage Safety Engineer(cid:173)
`ing Practice" (EP-470), which was designed to
`help minimize both the hazards of manure
`gases to Ii vestock and humans, and the potential
`for drownings at manure storage sites. This
`ASAE Engineering Practice contained infor(cid:173)
`mation on safety equipment and management,
`and the characteristics of manure gases (i.e., hy(cid:173)
`drogen sulfide, methane, ammonia, and carbon
`dioxide). It also provided a listing of the maxi(cid:173)
`mum safe gas concentrations, related standards
`and practices, and pertinent references.
`In 1993 NIOSH 17 issued a warning that again
`emphasized severity of the hazards associated
`with manure storage and handling facilities.
`This notice indicated that the number of fatali(cid:173)
`ties was likely under-reported, due to imprecise
`or insufficient farm fatality surveillance mech(cid:173)
`arnsms.
`W orsing 18 ( 1993) provided strong warnings
`to rural emergency response personnel con-
`
`cerning the potential hazards of entering ma(cid:173)
`nure storage facilities without self-contained
`breathing apparatus (SCBA) during rescue at(cid:173)
`tempts. Again, no data was provided to indicate
`the frequency of incidents connected with these
`facilities.
`Under-reporting of all farm deaths (not just
`manure storage-related ones) has been identi(cid:173)
`fied by Runyan 19 ( 1993) as a significant cause
`for errors in farm fatality statistics reported by
`the National Traumatic Occupational Fatalities
`(NTOF) Surveillance System and by the Uni(cid:173)
`versity of Illinois, which estimated that its
`1986-1992 data included only 60-80% of the
`actual farm deaths in the state over those
`years.20 Another incident reporting problem
`identified in prior research related to the classi(cid:173)
`fication of causative factors. For example, the
`terms "suffocation" and "asphyxiation" were
`used interchangeably by medical examiners
`and coroners to categorize deaths in both grain
`storage structures and manure storage facilities.
`No recent data were found that attempted to
`estimate the frequency of manure storage-re(cid:173)
`latedfatalities and injuries. Rather, much of the
`latest published work appears to focus on the
`gases being generated during the manure de(cid:173)
`composition process and their relationship to
`
`Exhibit 1043
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`JOURNAL OF AGROMEDICINE
`
`animal health and environmental quality, espe(cid:173)
`cially odor. In many reports, the impression is
`made that these incidents "occur frequently,"
`"abound" or "are reported regularly."
`States with relatively comprehensi vedataon
`farm-related fatalities have, however, identi(cid:173)
`fied few fatalities related to manure storage fa(cid:173)
`cilities. For example, Indiana and Illinois, ma(cid:173)
`jor hog producing states where confinement
`facilities predominate, reported only three and
`five cases, respectively, from 1970 to the pres(cid:173)
`ent out of approximately 2,400 documented
`farm-related fatalities.
`In summary, the literature over the past 30
`years appears to present a problem that is signif(cid:173)
`icant in scope, under reported, and that contin(cid:173)
`ues to occur on a regular basis but with little
`supporting evidence to document these claims
`other than a few highly publicized cases involv(cid:173)
`ing multiple victims.
`
`DATA-COLLECTION METHODOLOGY
`
`The primary source of the on-farm livestock
`manure storage facility-related incident data
`examined in this study was the Purdue U niver(cid:173)
`sity' s Agricultural Entrapment and Injury Data(cid:173)
`base that contained over 700 cases of entrap(cid:173)
`ment or suffocation in agricultural facilities
`that occurred between 1970 and 2004. From
`this database, all documented cases that in(cid:173)
`volved "entrapment," "drowning," "asphyxia(cid:173)
`tion," and "confined spaces," but not related to
`grain and other bulk agricultural materials,
`were reviewed and those determined as being
`related to manure storage and handling sepa(cid:173)
`rated out. Over 14,000 newspaper/media re(cid:173)
`ports of farm-related injuries and fatalities
`maintained by Purdue's Agricultural Safety
`and Health Program were also hand searched
`for manure storage and handling facility-re(cid:173)
`lated cases. The cases reviewed in both data
`sources represented all the states and came
`from a variety of sources (e.g., newspaper arti(cid:173)
`cles, university publications, medical journals,
`trade journals, death certificates, the Morbidity
`& Mortality Weekly Report, and NIOSH
`FACE reports).
`Over 125 published farm fatality reports
`from most of the major agricultural safety and
`health programs were reviewed and an exten-
`
`sive on-line research was conducted to identify
`potential injury cases involving manure storage
`and handling facilities. Key words used in these
`searches included: manure pit, suffocation, as(cid:173)
`phyxiation, manure storage and manure gases.
`In addition, electronic and hard copy corre(cid:173)
`spondence requesting information on potential
`manure storage and handling fatality and injury
`cases was sent to all state departments of health,
`all state departments of agriculture, and Exten(cid:173)
`sion safety specialists at all land-grant institu(cid:173)
`tions. Response to this inquiry was relatively
`low, with those who did respond reporting ei(cid:173)
`ther no or very few cases, most of which were
`already in the Purdue database.
`A total of 77 fatalities from 56 incidents that
`occurred in the U.S. between 1975 and 2004
`were documented as aresultof the search. In ad(cid:173)
`dition, the search
`identified 21 domestic
`non-fatal injuries and 14 fatal injuries docu(cid:173)
`mented outside the U.S. The information pro(cid:173)
`vided about these cases ranged from rather
`complete to very limited (e.g., merely name,
`date, location), with most presented in the form
`of brief new articles. Besides the 77 fatalities,
`another five fatalities were reported by individ(cid:173)
`uals who "knew" of cases but could not supply
`detai Is sufficient to support their addition to the
`database. (These cases were pursued to the ex(cid:173)
`tent possible to obtain confirmable documenta(cid:173)
`tion but none of the cases could be confirmed.)
`It is believed that in addition to the cases docu(cid:173)
`mented, other fatal and numerous non-fatal in(cid:173)
`cidents go unreported due to the lack of report(cid:173)
`ing mechanisms and/ or reluctance on the part of
`the victim to reveal them. Figure 5 provides a
`distribution of the primary sources of data for
`the 77 fatalities documented.
`Preliminary findings of the analysis of data
`related to the 77 documented fatalities were
`summarized and presented at four national
`meetings of agricultural engineers, agricultural
`safety and health specialists, and public health
`professionals with no additional cases being
`identified that were not already documented.
`There were, however, at each site challenges
`made by participants to the low number of doc(cid:173)
`umented cases included in the study. Partici(cid:173)
`pants verbally reported that as many as 15 to 20
`cases had occurred in theirrespective states, but
`follow-up contacts could not confirm their
`claims, nor were thereclaimssupported by pub(cid:173)
`lished farm fatality reports from their states. In
`
`Exhibit 1043
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`Page 7 of 22
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`

`

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`Original Research
`
`9
`
`FIGURE 5. Documented Fatalities by Data Source.
`
`25 . . . - - - - r r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,
`21
`
`20
`
`CV «i 10
`u.
`
`5
`
`9
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`s:
`:!!:
`:!!:
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`>, C:
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`·c :a
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`Q)
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`Q)
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`....
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`6
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`u cu
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`
`Source
`
`some cases oral reporting of cases occurring in
`other states resulted in beliefs that the incident
`actually had occurred in the state of the individ(cid:173)
`ual reporting the incident.
`Using an incident coding tool developed for
`the study, causative information concerning the
`77 fatalities was coded and entered into an elec(cid:173)
`tronic database for analysis. The process used
`and the incident coding tool was evaluated by a
`team of five agricultural safety specialists fa(cid:173)
`miliar with this type of incidence. In nearly all
`77 cases there were key pieces of causative in(cid:173)
`formation that was unknown and could not be
`pursued due to the limited scope of the project.
`Though not comprehensive, it is believed
`that the data assembled represent the largest
`and most complete case series of this type of fa(cid:173)
`tality currently in existence and because of the
`effort made to find as many cases as possible
`there is not much reason to believe that there are
`large numbers of undiscovered cases.
`
`ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENTED
`FATALITY CASES
`
`Following is a summary of the analysis of the
`77 deaths in the case series, documented in 56
`separate incidents between 1975 and 2004.
`
`Geographic Distribution
`
`Figure 6 shows the geographic distribution
`ofthe77 fatality cases. Minnesota and Iowa had
`
`the highest numbers-14 and 11, respectively. It
`should be noted that all five deaths in Michigan
`occurred in the same event.
`The majority of fatalities were located in
`northern states where confinement facilities for
`livestock housing and underground-level ma(cid:173)
`nure storage are common due to weather condi(cid:173)
`tions. The states represented also closely paral(cid:173)
`lel primary dairy and hog production areas of
`the country.
`
`Distribution of Fatalities
`by Year and Month
`
`Figure 7 represents the distribution of fatali(cid:173)
`ties by the year ofoccurrence. The minimum in(cid:173)
`formation provided in the data as to when the
`event occurred was typically the year. In some
`cases only the year was identified, so it was im(cid:173)
`portant to have secondary sources that could
`provide more details as to the month and date.
`The peak years for documented fatalities
`were 1980 and 1992. There does appear to be a
`trend toward an increased number of incidents
`over the past 15 years which may actually re(cid:173)
`flect fewer enclosed manure storage facilities
`and less reporting of farm-related fatalities dur(cid:173)
`ing prior years. However, one of the peak years
`was in 1980 which may have paralleled the
`widespread introduction of confined space
`livestock housing, especially in the swine in(cid:173)
`dustry. In other words, the lower number of
`
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`JOURNAL OF AGROMEDJCJNE
`
`FIGURE 6. Distribution of the Fatality Cases Based on Geographic Location.
`
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`
`0
`N
`
`documented cases during the earlier years
`could be a combination of inadequate reporting
`and lower exposure to agricultural confined
`spaces due to their less frequent use. The 1989
`peak reflected the deaths from just two inci(cid:173)
`dents that included five deaths in one case
`(which also included four injuries) and two in
`another single incident.
`Past research suggested that the hazardous
`environments in manure handling and storage
`facilities become worse in the presence of heat
`and humidity. In the 1993, "Update," NIOSH
`warned that warmer or more humid weather
`and increasing barometric pressure can accel(cid:173)
`erate the production and accumulation of haz(cid:173)
`ardous gases. Findings from this study support
`these earlier observations.
`Manure storage-related deaths occurred
`more frequently in the warmer months, regard(cid:173)
`less of the geographic location. As identified in
`Figure 8, 46 deaths, ( 60%) of the cases identi(cid:173)
`fied in this research occurred in the months of
`May through August. Annual temperature re(cid:173)
`cords indicate that the highest temperatures na-
`
`tionwide occur during the month of August.
`This is especially true in the regions where most
`of the fatalities were documented. Twenty of
`the documented deaths (26% of all cases) oc(cid:173)
`curred in August, the hottest and most humid
`month of the year. Where more detail was
`known, reports of several preceding days of 90
`degree-plus weather were noted.
`The unknown category was comprised of
`cases provided by state departments of health
`where information was taken from recorded
`death certificates, but month or day information
`was not available for reasons of confidentiality.
`All of the other information provided for these
`cases, however, was sufficient to ensure that
`cases were not duplicated and were therefore
`included in the database.
`
`Type of Livestock Operation
`
`Of the 77 fatality cases, 42 ( or 54.5 % ) were
`associated with dairy operations, 34 ( 44%)
`with swine operations, and one ( 1.5%) was un(cid:173)
`known. This was somewhat surprising in that a
`
`Exhibit 1043
`Bazooka v. Nuhn - IPR2024-00098
`Page 9 of 22
`
`

`

`0 ,..,
`
`0
`N
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`w
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`
`Original Research
`
`11
`
`FIGURE 7. Distribution of Fatalities by Year of Incident.
`
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`FIGURE 8. Distribution of Fatalities by Month of Incident.
`
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`
`review of the general safety literature sug(cid:173)
`gested the majority of manure storage-related
`deaths and injuries occur on hog farms. Also,
`there appeared to be more attention given to the
`topic in swine-focused periodicals and journals
`than those oriented towards dairy.
`
`Type ,4 Facility/Structure
`
`Below-ground manure storage structures
`and sump pits accounted for 65 (84%) of the 77
`fatal cases while open lagoons only accounted
`for eight of the documented cases. The potential
`for a highly toxic environment within these en-
`
`closed spaces, and difficulty of rescue, would
`contribute to this high percentage of fatal cases.
`
`Age of Victims
`
`Figure 9 shows the age-group distribution of
`the 77 fatality cases. Although the majority of
`deaths were adult farm workers (including
`owner-operators), 21 of the victims were under
`the age of 20. Of those 21 victims, 17 were less
`than 16 years old, who in some cases might have
`been covered by the provisions of the Fair La(cid:173)
`bor Standards Act and Hazardous Occupations
`Orders for Agriculture (AgHOs) prohibiting
`
`Exhibit 1043
`Bazooka v. Nuhn - IPR2024-00098
`Page 10 of 22
`
`

`

`0 ,..,
`
`0
`N
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`w
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`u
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`12
`
`JOURNAL OF AGROMEDICINE
`
`FIGURE 9. Distribution of the Fatality Cases Based on Age Grouping.
`
`(I)
`
`18
`16
`14
`If) 12
`:E 10
`.... ca
`ca
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`Age Grouping in Years
`
`them from working for hire in agricultural con(cid:173)
`fined spaces.21 However, this restriction does
`not apply to children performing work on a
`farm owned by their parent or guardian. Since
`only eight of the documented cases were caused
`by drowning in open manure storage facilities
`such as lagoons, the remaining fatalities in vol v(cid:173)
`ing youth occurred in some form of confined
`space. Unlikeothertypesoffarm-relatedfatali(cid:173)
`ties, the number of persons over age 60 did not
`make up a significant proportion of the total.
`
`Activity of Victim at Time of Death
`
`The documentation of human behaviors and
`tasks performed by the decedent just prior to an
`incident was difficult. This was especially true
`when there were no witnesses, or the witness
`had been injured or became ill as a result of the
`incident and could not recall what occurred, or
`was not interviewed immediately afterwards
`due to the need for medical care. If the incident
`resulted in some form oflitigation or regulatory
`enforcement, the reported activities at the time
`of the incident may not have been reliable due to
`the tendency to protect the parties involved.
`Lack of familiarity with agricultural processes
`and practices by investigating officials may
`have also resulted in conclusions as to pre(cid:173)
`death activities that were notconsi stent with the
`physical or environmental evidence.
`The activity classifications chosen for the in(cid:173)
`cident reporting form were developed as a re-
`
`sult of categorizing causes identified by the in(cid:173)
`vestigating agencies or provided in the public
`press reports. This resulted in seven general cat(cid:173)
`egories, including an unknown category. Find(cid:173)
`ings are presented in Figure 10.
`The largest category, "repair," incorporated
`activities such as clearing, cleaning, repairing,
`moving, retrieving, fixing, and checking of
`equipment and facility components. The "res(cid:173)
`cue" classification identified those activities
`undertaken by the decedent to rescue a relative,
`employee, or other person. Typically the per(cid:173)
`son being rescued was performing a repair ac(cid:173)
`tivity. There were 13 cases identified in which
`witnesses stated that prior to the time of the inci(cid:173)
`dent the victim was, "playing," and was discov(cid:173)
`ered missing. In all of these cases the victims
`were children. The "agitation/pumping" cate(cid:173)
`gory represented those cases where witnesses
`or investigating official(s) stated that the dece(cid:173)
`denthad agitated, was pumping, or preparing to
`pump manure from the storage facility. The
`"transport hauling" classification included
`only those activities where the pre-incident in(cid:173)
`formation identified the process or vehicle used
`to move manure. Livestock retrieval or rescue
`from a manure pit or lagoon was identified in
`two cases.
`The "unknown" classification was associ(cid:173)
`ated with cases in which there was a lack of
`pre-incident information to make a definitive a
`classification of the activity.
`
`Exhibit 1043
`Bazooka v. Nuhn - IPR2024-00098
`Page 11 of 22
`
`

`

`Original Research
`
`13
`
`FIGURE 10. Distribution of Fatality Cases Based on Victim Activity at the Time of Death.
`
`10
`
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`Activity at Time of Death
`
`30
`25
`"' 20
`co -co 10
`:2 15
`
`