Protect workers who handle grain

By Laura Mattimoe, Safety and Health Consultant

Every year, we hear it in the news – “worker dies after being trapped in grain.” It’s a horrible and shocking blow each time. How is it that after all these stories, these events are still happening? As a safety professional with the Ohio On-Site Consultation Program, I wanted to know how I could change the headlines. Part of improving safety is understanding the work tasks that are performed. I wanted to put myself in their shoes, and I almost literally did.

In March 2022 National Stand Up for Grain Safety Week event, I volunteered to participate in a demonstration on grain safety. I put on a harness and retrieval line and put myself in the hands of the Ohio Fire Academy and firefighters from the Bowling Green Fire Department. Then I learned first-hand what it was like to be trapped in grain:

1. Remember all those movies about sinking in quicksand from when we were kids? Quicksand isn’t nearly the hazard that I thought it was going to be when I got out into the real world. But stepping on grain is close! As soon as my feet hit the grain, I was down in it. I was ankle deep in a heartbeat.
2. Like quicksand, whenever I moved, I sunk farther. Insert Hermione Granger’s voice: “You have to relax. If you don’t, it’ll only kill you faster!” No, there was no relaxing. Relaxing wasn’t a reasonable possibility once I started sinking.
3. And with an auger running at the bottom…I hope the person filming doesn’t have video of my face. I was down at the bottom of the bin before I even had a chance to take a breath. Luckily for me, since I was part of a controlled demonstration, there was a solid grate under my feet giving me a sturdy surface to stand on away from the auger. 
4. At that moment, I took inventory. Am I alive? Am I ok? I realized moving wasn’t an option. Even though I could breathe and wasn’t physically injured, I recognized this is where panic may start. I was, in fact, stuck.

My story had a happy ending since I was protected by trained professionals in a controlled environment. I’m still on a mission to learn more, and to use the knowledge to help change those dire headlines into sentimental stories about farmers who have grown old living happy, safe lives.

If your workplace provides grain storage and handling, PLEASE make sure you do it safely. Use fall protection other proper equipment, have an observer equipped to help, check for proper air quality and ventilation, and don’t walk down grain.

BWC can help you learn more. Request a safety consultation today so we can provide recommendations specific to your workplace. Search for training courses and webinars in our Learning Center, or view the resources from our partnership with the Agribusiness Alliance and the Ohio Farm Bureau on our Agricultural Safety page.

I’ll also be at the kickoff event for the National Stand Up for Grain Safety Week on March 27 at Wayne County Fire & Rescue Association Regional Training Facility in Apple Creek, Ohio. Contact me to attend the live event or register for the virtual training.