Thomas Todd Traphagan: OSHA inspections and violations

Incident on Nov 20, 2018 (fatal): Employee is crushed underneath the tire of a loaded belly du

At 1:00 p.m. on November 20, 2018, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were filling in the irrigation pivot tire tracks left in the alfalfa field using a John Deere 4495 agricultural tractor and belly dump trailer to fill in the wheel tracks. The employees connected a belly dump trailer to the John Deere tractor, and Employee #1 drove the tractor and trailer to the soil pile. Employee #2 loaded the belly dump trailer. Employee #1 drove the tractor and trailer into the alfalfa field, situated the trailer over the irrigation pivot tire tracks, and opened the doors to the trailer, allowing soil to pour out of the trailer into the tire tracks. The soil was clogged inside the trailer. The doors of the belly dump trailer would not move. It was almost lunch time, so Employee #2 drove the tractor back to the shop. Employee #1 walked between the back of the tractor and the trailer and Employee #2 was still unable to see Employee #1. Employee #2 drove approximately thirty feet when he looked back and saw Employee #1 lying face down in the first set of tire tracks. Employee #1 was fatally injured when he was run over by the rear tires of the loaded belly dump trailer, weighing approximately 28,000 lbs.