Grain bin safety vital after big harvest

The majority of grain storage rests on farms and, not coincidentally, about 70 percent of incidents involving grain bins occur on farms, according to Dave Newcomb.

Dave Newcomb, ag rescue manager for the Illinois Fire Service Institute, also works as a farmer. So, he was thrilled with this year’s record harvest.

But the billions of bushels jammed into grain bins around the country also represent a great concern for Newcomb as an ag safety professional.

The majority of grain storage rests on farms and, not coincidentally, about 70 percent of incidents involving grain bins occur on farms, according to Newcomb.

He urged farmers this week at the Illinois Farm Bureau annual meeting to remain vigilant about safety and use a lock-out, tag-out system around grain bins to prevent entrapments.

“With this last harvest, we know we have a lot of grain to deal with,” Newcomb said. “A simple padlock and key (on electrical devices on and around bins) can make a difference between life and death.”

Newcomb hopes to avoid a repeat of recent history. The number of grain bin entrapments jumped from 44 to 59 from 2009 to 2010. He believes a large corn harvest in 2009 played a key role in the spike of grain bin incidents.

Grain bin incidents the last three years totaled 32 in 2011, 20 in 2012 (a down year for corn production due to drought) and 33 in 2013. About half of all incidents result in death.

Another possible contributor to more grain bin entrapments involves the growing size of bins and grain handling equipment.

The diameter of many grain bins has grown from 18 feet in the 1960s and 1970s to a range of 42 to 80-plus feet. Meanwhile, 6-inch augers of the past, which moved about 1,000 bushels per hour, have been replaced by 10- to 14-inch augers that move 4,000 to 4,500 bushels per hour. Larger augers are capable of moving 10,000 bushels per hour.

For more information visit www.grainsafety.org.

Story from FarmWeekNow by Dan Grant