A Rare Fatal Head Injury and Crush Injury to Leg by an Improperly Assembled Chaff Cutter - a farm Machinery-Related Injury in North-West India: a Case Report

Chaff cutter, a commonly used fodder cutter machine in rural parts of India is responsible for a significant number of agricultural-related accidents. Mostly, these accidents lead to amputation of the upper extremities and the fatal injuries are extremely rare.
Case Report: This article presents a very unusual case of fatal head injury and crush injury to right leg sustained by a farmer while working with a self-assembled chaff cutter machine in his field. His leg caught between the belt and the wheel of the diesel engine when he tried to cross it and resulted in such kind of fatal injuries.
Despite existing rules regarding the quality norms for the farm machinery in India and the availability of high-quality, safe machinery in the market, self-assembled chaff cutters are still in use and are posing a risk to any person working around. Apart from explaining the mechanism of the fatal injuries, this paper also stresses mainly on the need for ensuring the use of government prescribed safe machines and conducting regular training programs for farmers regarding the safe handling of farm machinery to reduce these kinds of fatalities.