[AT] Tractor roll-over prevention program

[Carl Tatlock]

       Dave and others have asked about the ROP program.  It seems to 
be, at least here in Vermont, pretty much funded in part by a $532,000 
grant over 5 years from the U.S.Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, and the balance in local sponsors like The Vermont agency of 
Agriculture/Food and Markets; the Vermont Department of Health; the 
Vermont Farm Bureau; and the Cooperative Insurance Companies.  (My son 
is CFO of the Co-Op, so I got the word from the horse's mouth, so to 
speak. The do a largely farm business in Vermont and New Hampshire.)

      The program is patterned after that of New York State which has 
been in place for 5 years.  It will pay up to 70% (up to $765) of cost 
of roll bar and seat kit.  Difficulty in finding appropriate ones are 
the farmers' problem-- the time spent trying to find the right one, 
modification may have to be made to barn door height, etc.  Estimate is 
that about 35% of Vt tractors lack roll bars; New York about 48%.

      University of Vermont Extension estimates that there is a 7 in 10 
chance that a farm that has experienced a roll-over will go out of 
business within a year.  Another source says that about 1 in 10 Vermont 
farmers will experience a roll-over in his or her lifetime. Vermont's 
latest fatality was in July of this year.

      Resistance to ROPS, in addition to difficulties mentioned above, 
also lies in the belief- especially among older farmers- that they know 
how to control a tractor, making a ROPS unnecessary, according to the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

     The goal is to reduce risk of death or injury by roll-over to near 
zero.  These programs are certainly a step in the right direction.

    From Carl Tatlock, with thanks to today's Burlington Free Press 
article that provided a lot of facts.