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Stay safe on the farm: Grain bin safety reminders – Southernminn.com

Apr 20th, 2020

The week of April was 13-17 was Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week.

This time of year is the perfect time to refresh our memories with grain bin safety tips, plus after harvesting a lot of wet grain last year, it is especially important to be cautious. There is no shortage of sad grain bin-related tragedies. Nearly two dozen people are killed each year in the U.S. in grain entrapment incidents. Flowing grain is dangerous, and behaves like quicksand. In just 20 seconds, an adult can be completely buried. The pressure of the grain usually hinders self-escape, and can make assisted escape nearly impossible. A person buried to the waist in grain requires a force equivalent to their own body weight plus 600 pounds to free them.

Here are some grain handling scenarios that are dangerous and could result in a grain-related accident.

The first is flowing grain. Around 80% of reported engulfments involve a person inside a bin when grain-unloading equipment is running. Engulfment in flowing grain can also occur in outdoor storage piles, grain wagons, and semi-trailers that unload from the bottom. As grain is unloaded through the bottom outlet, a funnel-shaped flow develops on the surface of the grain. Anyone standing on the surface while grain is being removed from below is at risk of being rapidly pulled down toward the outlet with the flowing grain.

Additional dangerous scenarios are bridged grain and vertical grain walls. Spoiled grain clumps together and can develop a crust on the top surface or form a mass that adheres to the vertical wall of a bin. Crusts appear solid, but are unstable and may hide open voids below that develop as grain is removed. Bridged grain can collapse under a persons weight, resulting in a person being buried by falling grain. A vertical wall of grain that is higher than the person is dangerous because the grain can break loose and fall like an avalanche.

What are some safety precautions we can take to prevent grain-related incidents?

Manage grain to prevent spoilage. The most common reason people enter bins is to address problems associated with spoiled grain. To reduce the chance of grain spoilage, maintain aeration equipment and store grain at the correct moisture content when possible. If some grain needs to be stored at higher moisture, make a point to empty that bin first.

Work from outside the bin. If clumps or crusts develop in the grain, use a pole from outside the bin to probe or knock the clump free.

If you enter a bin or other grain storage area, take proper safety precautions. Never enter alone; have at least one other person in a safe position to watch you and be there to help if something goes wrong. You should also wear harness equipment.

Grain entrapment is a huge risk on farms, and these accidents almost always end in tragedy. Keep yourself and your family safe by reviewing the dangers of the farm and how to avoid them.

Claire LaCanne is the agricultural extension educator for Rice and Steele counties. Reach her at lacanne@umn.edu, or at 507-332-6165 (Rice County) or 507-444-7691 (Steele County).

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Stay safe on the farm: Grain bin safety reminders - Southernminn.com

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