During the hustle and bustle of harvest beginning, some agricultural producers are in a hurry. Obviously there are a lot of different ways to focus a blog post during harvest time, but today I’d like to feature one that we wrote last year about grain handling safety. It is probably more in the minds of folks now because of harvest starting and the specialized machines being used now, not to mention the ramping up of workers needed to bring in the harvest. In fact, I know of many people who take days off of work to “go home” to help friends or family with the harvest, so there may also be people working who aren’t as familiar with day-to-day farming operations.
Regardless of whether one is a regular worker or a temporary volunteer, grain handling safety should be on workers’ and employers’ minds all year long. Very recently, OSHA held the owners of a grain elevator accountable for an incident that killed a 51-year-old man in South Dakota in March. Sadly, the gentleman was “engulfed in flowing grain in a railcar load-out elevator at Prairie Ag Partners,” according to the news release from OSHA. This resulted in proposed fines of $120,120 and the Lake Preston, S.D., business being put in OSHA’s Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Citations were “for one willful, two repeat and eight serious safety violations, many involving OSHA’s grain handling, permit-required confined space and fall protection safety regulations.”
I would note that OSHA sees incidents like this as such a problem that is has developed a National Emphasis Program for Grain Handling Facilities. What’s the most disturbing about this situation is that it was most likely preventable. Eric Brooks, OSHA’s area director in Bismarck, N.D., talked about the dangers of workers getting entangled when machines move grain and the worker is submerged. “If Prairie Ag Partners had followed basic safety standards, this tragic incident could have been prevented,” Brooks said in the news release.
That is a stark reality: following “basic safety standards.” So this harvest time, and whenever working with grain, make sure both businesses and workers know and follow the necessary safety standards. Have a successful and safe harvest season.
The grain harvest is still going strong in many portions of the Great Plains, but farmers and agricultural workers may be at that point where they just want to get it done and take shortcuts. However, taking shortcuts can often lead to bigger safety problems for these ag workers.
Although folks who are in the field and transporting grain to elevators are much more visible right now, safety issues with grain elevators go on throughout the year. So for people who live or work around grain elevators, which would be pretty much everyone in many small Nebraska and Iowa towns, please be aware of the dangers that grain handling can present, including explosions from grain dust, falls, or suffocation, among many of the other hazards out there.
One of the area television stations, 10-11 Central Nebraska, recently featured a special report on “Nebraska Grain Industry Safety” titled “OSHA, Grain Industry, and Families Work to End Injuries and Deaths.”
That effort got us thinking about compiling a list of links and previous blog posts that we have run in regards to both agriculture and also grain handling as resources.
Here are a couple of general links, and then below that are links to past blog posts from the firm that talk about either workers’ compensation for ag workers or grain-handling issues.
OSHA Safety and Health Topics: Grain Handling
Facebook Community: Grain Mill Accidents
OSHA Looks at Challenge of Nebraska Grain Elevators’ Safety
Employer Pleads Guilty for Grain Elevator Death
Temporary Employees Cannot Be Excluded From Workers’ Compensation
The 11 Most Life-Threatening Jobs on the Planet
What Nebraskans In Farming Industries Should Know About Workers’ Comp
Please continue to be safe this harvest and avoid dangerous shortcuts! Because all loved ones deserve to have their workers come home to them.