A 69-year-old Ottawa dairy farmer is in critical condition in hospital after both of his arms became caught in a tractor Wednesday morning.

A dairy farmer at Appaulo Farms suffered one severed arm and one partially severed arm after an accident involving a tractor. (CBC News) piece of his clothing and then his arms. Paramedics said the man was working on his tractor at Appaulo Farms on William Mooney Road near Carp in the west end of Ottawa when a piece of tractor machinery caught a

It happened when the man's clothing was caught in a spinning power take-off shaft, which is used to drive other farm machinery towed behind the tractor.

The rotating force severed one arm completely and the other below the elbow, paramedics said.

"His coworkers had cut off his clothing to help extricate him from the axle, and he was extricated prior to our arrival," said paramedic Supt. Mike Latimer.

Ottawa paramedic Supt. Mike Latimer said the farmer's co-workers did a good job of helping him before paramedics arrived. (CBC News) "He was bleeding from both amputations. We controlled the bleeding and transferred him to the trauma centre in critical condition."

The dairy farm is run by Ken Paul, his wife and son.

This type of accident is common, safety groups say

Farm safety groups say this type of tractor accident is relatively common.

Dean Anderson, chair of the Canadian Agriculture Safety Association, said the power take-off shaft spins at up to 1,000 revolutions per minute.

"So if anything ever gets caught in it, if the guarding is not working or if you get too close or if you've got loose clothing, the second you get caught, there is no forgiveness," Anderson said.

"Regretfully that's just the nature of this part of the equipment, and of course recommendations are to make sure ... that you don't have loose clothing, and obviously any guards are in place and operating correctly."

Anderson also said people in their 60s and older make up about 35 per cent of the fatalities and injuries in the agriculture sector.

"They're in a growing statistical concern for us," he said.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour is investigating.