Agricultural Workplace Injuries in Raleigh, NC

Agricultural workers are exposed to numerous hazards in the course of doing their jobs. They include:

• Heat Stress — Farmworkers working through North Carolina’s hot and humid summer months may develop heat illness. Workers may experience heat stress if they don’t drink enough water and take frequent breaks from the heat to keep the body’s temperature at safe levels. Heat stress can progress to a heat-related stroke, which is a life-threatening condition. Heat stroke can lead to death or permanent disability if a farmworker does not receive emergency treatment.
• Musculoskeletal Injuries — Farm work is extremely physical and often involves pushing, pulling, and lifting loads in both crop production and animal operations. Farmworkers may develop muscle strains, torn ligaments, and other injuries from overexertion or the repetitive motions of lifting or bending over for lengthy periods of time.
• Motor Vehicle Accidents Involving Farm Equipment — Large farm tractors, combines and other vehicles use North Carolina’s rural roads and highways during planting and harvesting seasons to get from field to field. Farm vehicles typically travel at slower speeds than other motorists and often are on roads at dawn or dusk, when it is harder to see. Farm vehicles make wide turns, often directly into fields where no side road is present. A farm vehicle that appears to be moving to the right side of the road to let traffic pass may, in fact, be prepared to make a wide left turn. Agricultural workers operating farm vehicles on public roads are at risk of accidents with faster-moving automobile traffic. In North Carolina, more than half of crashes involving farm equipment result in an injury or death.
• Silos and Grain Bins — Working inside grain storage bins is extremely hazardous. Farmworkers face the risk of suffocation while walking on grain to make it flow or trying to clear grain built up on the inside of a silo. Moving grain acts like quicksand and can entrap and suffocate a worker in a matter of seconds. Suffocation is a leading cause of death in grain storage bins. Mechanical equipment such as augurs and conveyors can pose an amputation hazard if a worker becomes entangled with the equipment. Workers also may suffer injuries from falls from elevated surfaces while working in a grain storage facility.
• Exposure to Pesticides and Herbicides — Agriculture workers may develop a short-term or long-term illness related to pesticide poisoning. Workers may be exposed to pesticide poisoning by working in a field where chemicals have recently been sprayed, eating contaminated fruit or vegetables, or washing their hands or drinking water from an irrigation canal where pesticides have accumulated. Farmworkers who perform hand labor on crops sprayed with pesticides may breathe pesticide drift from another field or come into contact with pesticide residue on crops.
• Loss of Limbs — Farmworkers who work with farm machinery that lacks adequate safeguards may get an arm, leg, or clothing trapped in the machinery’s moving parts. A worker may sustain serious injuries, including the loss of arms, legs, hands, or feet.

Can I File a Lawsuit for Farm or Agricultural Injuries in Raleigh?

An injured agricultural worker who is eligible for workers’ compensation benefits in North Carolina generally cannot file a lawsuit against his or her employer for causing a workplace accident resulting in an injury.

However, in some cases, an injured farmworker may bring a lawsuit and demand compensation from a party other than their employer that was responsible for the farm accident that caused the injury. For example, if you were driving a piece of farm equipment on the road and a distracted driver struck the farm equipment and caused your injury, you may have a legal right to file a personal injury lawsuit against the distracted driver who hit you, demanding compensation from the driver’s insurance for your medical bills and other expenses.

Our attorneys can review the details of your farm equipment accident and discuss with you whether a personal injury lawsuit is appropriate in your situation.