ATV Safety Summit: Vehicle Tech Roll-Over Protection - Roll-Over Protection (NIOSH)
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Jim Helmkamp, Senior Epidemiologist for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Western States Office, presented this at CPSC's ATV Safety Summit Oct. 12, 2012. Hundreds of men, women and children are killed in ATV crashes each year with tens of thousands more seriously injured requiring emergency care. Between 35 and 65% of crashes involve tipping, flipping or rolling of the ATV. There has been much research underpinning these types of incidents, but little attention to identifying effective engineering solutions to minimize the risk in the event of a rollover. Crush protection devices (e.g., Quad Bar) provide increased protection to the rider when the ATV rolls. Australian research suggests that fitting ATVs with Quad Bars could potentially reduce the number of ATV deaths by up to 40%. The Quad Bar (TM) CPD is a small unobtrusive, hairpin shaped hoop mounted on the ATV behind the rider designed to counter some of the risks associated with rollovers. The Quad Bar can be an important safety modification that can have immediate impact to reduce death and injury from rollovers. Other designs are being tested in New Zealand and Sweden.
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ATV Safety Summit: Vehicle Tech Roll-Over Protection - Roll-Over Protection (NIOSH)
- 1. ATV Safety Summit - ‘Keeping Families Safe on ATVs’ U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Bethesda, MD October 11-12, 2012 Vehicle Technology: Roll-over Protection Jim Helmkamp, PhD, MS
- 2. Outline Work-related ATV deaths - numbers and trends - roll-over events Australian and U.S. Farm-related ATV deaths Quad Bar
- 3. Number and rate of work-related ATV deaths, 1992-2007 (N= 297)
- 4. Distribution of work-related ATV Deaths ♦ Male - 90% ♦ White - 95% Demographics ♦ Non-Hispanic - 81% ♦ 18-24 - 7% ♦ 25-34 - 15% ♦ 35-54 - 32% ♦ 55-64 - 19% ♦ ≥ 65 - 27% Event ♦ Rolls and overturns 65% ♦ Crop Production 26% Industry Animal Production 40% Services 18% Construction 5% Helmkamp et al. J Ag Safety and Health 2011 and 2012
- 5. Comparison of U.S. and Australian ATV/ Quad Farm-related Deaths U.S. Australia* (2000-2007) (2001 – 2010) ATV Deaths 4,518 127 Farm-related 869 (19%) 83 (65%) _____________________________________________________________ Overturn Event 63% 63% * Courtesy of Tony Lower, Australian Centre for Agricultural Health & Safety
- 6. Australian Quad (V) Bar The Quad Bar (TM) CPD (Crush Protection Device) is a small unobtrusive, hairpin shaped hoop mounted on the quad bike behind the rider designed to counter some of the risks associated with rollovers: > Designed for use without a seatbelt > Multiple Australian studies (2007-2009) indicate that benefits outweigh potential risks > No data currently available (including studies commissioned by manufacturers) that indicate that the fitting of the Quad Bar increases risk QB Industries, Australia > Fitting of quads with CPDs like the Quad Bar could potentially reduce the number of deaths by up to 40% > Australia has had success in reducing tractor roll-over deaths by 70% through an engineering approach placing roll-over frames on tractors > Recommendations have been made to the Australian government to require that CPDs be mandated for all quads, a ‘design rule’ be developed for quads, and a technical standard for CPDs be developed
- 7. Conclusions Nearly two-thirds of U.S. ATV-related deaths involve roll-over events A similar proportion is evident in U.S. farm-related deaths involving ATVs Crush Protection Devices such as the Quad Bar offer scientific evidence of having the potential of significantly reducing the number of deaths by up to 40% U.S. manufacturers should consider fitting ATVs with CPDs like the Quad Bar or similar devices
- 8. Contact information Jim Helmkamp NIOSH – Western States Office Denver Federal Center PO Box 25226 Denver, Colorado 80225 E-mail: jhelmkamp@cdc.gov Phone: 303-236-5943
Editor's Notes
- Thank you Commissioner for the opportunity to speak at this important safety summit to share information and develop new strategies to make ATV riding safer. The research I have conducted over the past 14 years has identified a number of risk factors and situations that have contributed to the increasing public health and economic burden exacted by ATV crashes and resulting injuries. Several of these factors – such as gender and age -- are about the person operating the ATV while other factors such as training, wearing a helmet, drinking, deciding where to ride and at what speed, and carrying passengers, for example, are about personal choices. All of these factors, singularly or in combination, may contribute to the dynamics that cause an event such as a roll-over.
- Briefly, I will present data from some recent work-related ATV research I have completed at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health since 2010.Findings closely parallel results from my recreationally-focused ATV research at the state level as well as at the national level.I will then make a comparison with Australian data related to ATV roll-over deaths on farms. Finally, I will discuss the Quad Bar – a “Crush Protection Device” developed in Australia -- that should be considered as a potential engineering solution to help mitigate the burgeoning number of ATV deaths and serious injuries.
- The data from this 2011 study represents the first analysis of ATV-related deaths among adult workers in the U.S. workplace, summarizing nearly 300 deaths over a 16-year period. You can see that the annual number of deaths significantly increased from 11 in 1992 to 41 in 2007 with a commensurate increase in rate as highlighted in the circles at both ends of the trend line.I want to point out that the nearly 200% increase in occupational ATV deaths from 2000-2007 greatly exceeded the estimated 75% increase in recreational ATV deaths over the same period.Males had a fatality rate 8X higher than females. Rates for workers 65 years of age and older were some 3X higher than rates for younger workers.
- The rate in the agriculture/forestry/fishing/hunting industry sector was 100X the rate for all other industries. An overwhelming majority of the victims were male, white and non-Hispanic.Roll and overturn events accounted for nearly two-thirds of the deaths.
- While the proportion of all ATV deaths related to farm work is much higher in Australia compared to the U.S., the proportion attributed to roll-over events is the same.I might add that an increasing proportion of these farm-related ATV deaths in both countries are occurring in persons over 60 years of age.
- The V or Quad Bar – developed in Australia – is one of several “Crush Protection Devices” that has the potential to mitigate the number of deaths and serious injuries associated with roll-over events.The ROPS program in Australia for tractors has been very successful in reducing roll-over deaths and is the model for the rapidly increasing Quad-related deaths – particularly in farming and ranching operations.Efforts are currently underway in Australia to recommend that the government mandate use of crush protection devices on all quads, and to develop design rules and technical standards.
- In summary, Roll-over events play a part in nearly two-thirds of ATV work-related deaths in the U.S.Successful tractor ROPS retrofit programs could serve as a model for ATVs.The Quad Bar and other similar devices offer hope to reduce the burden resulting from roll-over events.U.S. manufacturers should consider fitting ATVs with crush protection devices.