Occupational hazards of grain facilities can be mitigated through diligence and proper safety procedures. These hazards represent the health and safety risks to which an employee is vulnerable. Grain facility occupation exposure is the quantifiable expression of workplace health and safety hazards to which a grain-handling facility employee is vulnerable in performing their assigned duties. Exposure represents the probability that a given hazard will have some level of effect of a receptor of interest. The agricultural industry is consistently ranked as one of the most dangerous. Its annual fatality rate of 24.9 deaths per 100,000 is nearly seven times higher than the rate for all private industry workers, which is 3.5 deaths per 100,000. From 2003 to 2011, work-related injuries in agriculture caused 5,816 fatalities. On average, 243 agricultural workers suffer a serious lost-work-time injury each day, and five percent of these incidents result in permanent impairment. In 2012, agricultural facilities had 475 fatalities, giving the sector the highest fatal injury rate of any industry for the second consecutive year, at 21.2 fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time workers.
Exposure hazards
Grain entrapment
Grain entrapment occurs when a person is partially submerged in grain and cannot get out; grain engulfment occurs when a person is completely submerged. Engulfment mainly happens at grain storage facilities such as silos or grain elevators, but can also occur anywhere with large quantities of grain, including freestanding outdoor piles. A worker can be submerged in moments, suffocate within minutes, and take hours to locate and recover. Rescuing an engulfed person may be possible if their airway remains unobstructed. In the United States in 2010, 57 workers were engulfed in grain, resulting in 26 fatalities. In 2012, 19 workers were engulfed in grain, resulting in 8 fatalities. Research has identified a link between out-of-condition grain and engulfment incidents. Out-of-condition grain is stored grain that has become wet, clumped, or spoiled. This grain tends to clump together, increasing the risk of engulfment. Workers enter grain bins to loosen crusted grain that cakes to the walls of storage bins to facilitate its removal. A typical engulfment scenario begins when wet or moldy grain is stored, which then cakes to the side of the bin or "bridges" across the top. A worker enters the unit to dislodge the material, which then collapses and engulfs the worker. Workers can become entrapped in three main ways: by entering a storage bin while grain is flowing; by standing on an apparently stable surface that is actually a "grain bridge" with a hollow cavity underneath; or when a vertical mass of grain settled against a wall suddenly gives way during clearing. If a worker enters a bin and an auger starts removing grain, the worker can become entrapped within four to five seconds and fully engulfed within 11 seconds. Other factors with a statistically significant relationship with grain engulfment include the type of grain, geographic location, type of facility, and victim demographics. More than half of recorded incidents occur in corn; other grains include soybeans, oats, wheat, flax, and canola. Because corn is largely produced in the Corn Belt states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio, most engulfment incidents occur there. One study of 60 grain entrapment cases found that 43% involved corn and 22% involved soybeans. More than 70% of entrapments have occurred on small or family farms, which are typically exempt from OSHA grain-handling regulations. All engulfment victims have been male, and 75% have been farmers, farm workers, or members of farm families. The average age of victims is around 40, but a disproportionate share are under 18 years old.
Grain dust explosions
Nearly any finely-divided organic substance becomes an explosive material when dispersed as an air suspension. The fine flour found in grain-handling facilities can become dangerously explosive in this state.
A fire requires three elements, forming a fire triangle: combustible dust (fuel), an ignition source (heat), and oxygen (oxidizer). A combustible dust explosion requires two additional elements: the dispersion of dust particles in sufficient quantity and concentration, and the confinement of the dust cloud.
Falls In 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a non-fatal, fall-related injury rate of 48.2 per 100,000 workers in the agricultural industry, a rate higher than in the transportation, mining, or manufacturing industries. The BLS also reported 167 worker fatalities in the agriculture industry between 2007 and 2011. Relatively short falls, from 12 to 20 feet (3.7 to 6.1 m), can be fatal. Falling hazards in a grain-handling facility include floors, machinery, structures, roofs, skylights, unguarded holes, wall and floor openings, ladders, unguarded catwalks, platforms, and manlifts. Workers are also exposed to potentially fatal falls when they move from the vertical exterior ladders on grain bins to the bin roof or through a bin entrance. Between 1985 and 1989, falls from heights were the second leading cause of grain-handling worker fatalities. Falls from machinery and structures were the second largest single cause of grain- and silage-handling fatalities during this period; falls from structures accounted for 79 percent of these fatalities.
Amputations Mechanical equipment in grain storage structures, such as augers and conveyors, presents serious entanglement and amputation hazards. Workers can get their limbs caught in improperly guarded moving parts. Although many pieces of equipment have safety features such as guards, covers, and shields, workers increase their risk of injury when they attempt to disable these protective features.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
