labor lawAdivision of labor law center

A recent death points to the tragic results of the increased use of ATVs in the workplace. An Oklahoma worker was operating an ATV fitted with an herbicide sprayer on its rear cargo holder when the vehicle flipped on a steep grade, crushing her, according to the local office of OSHA. The office, which investigated the incident, said the manufacturer had mounted the sprayer that was 55 pounds over the weight recommended by the manufacturer. The worker was operating the ATV on rough ground, uphill, when the vehicle flipped. An attempt to stabilize the machine by standing up failed to do the job, and she tried unsuccessfully to jump out of the way. She was killed when the All-Terrain Vehicle crushed her.

OSHA said ATVs are not meant to carry much cargo. The overweight herbicide sprayer made the vehicle unstable, shifting its weight distribution. That, combined with traveling uphill on rough ground, caused the accident.
An Oklahoma worker was killed recently when the ATV she was operating flipped over and crushed her.

The accident has prompted an Oklahoma Worker Safety Alert noting that serious injuries and deaths can follow if workers don’t receive training to use All-Terrain Vehicles and safety measures are not followed.

Most of us still think of ATVs as a recreational vehicle beloved by outdoors people and youngsters, but they are being increasingly used in a variety of industries.

More and more ATVs are used now in law enforcement, agriculture, forestry, and construction. With that come more deaths. In the past 10 years, job related ATV accidents have taken the lives of more than 100 workers.

Workers are not being trained to operate ATVs in a safe manner, according to OSHA. Its use as a recreational vehicle – often by children – leads workers to assume they need no training in operating the ATV. But they are prone to rollovers.

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