Train all workers for the specific hazardous work operations they are to perform when entering and working inside of grain bins.Prohibit workers from entry into bins or silos underneath a bridging condition, or where a build-up of grain products on the sides could fall and bury them. Ensure the observer is equipped to provide assistance and that their only task is to continuously track the employee in the bin. Provide an observer stationed outside the bin or silo being entered by an employee.Provide all employees a body harness with a lifeline, or a boatswains chair, and ensure that it is secured prior to the employee entering the bin.Prohibit walking down grain and similar practices where an employee walks on grain to make it flow.Moving grain out of a bin while a worker is in the bin creates a suction that can pull the workers into the grain in seconds. Standing on moving grain is deadly the grain can act like "quicksand" and bury a worker in seconds. Turn off and lock out all powered equipment associated with the bin, including augers used to help move the grain, so that the grain is not being emptied or moving out or into the bin.When workers enter storage bins, employers must (among other things): What can be done to reduce the hazards in grain handling facilities? These gases may result in a worker passing out and falling into the grain, thus becoming engulfed and suffocating or otherwise injuring themselves. Exposure to fumigants may cause permanent central nervous system damage, heart and vascular disease, and lung edema as well as cancer.
Fumigants are commonly used for insect control on stored grain and many have inadequate warning properties. Workers may be exposed to unhealthy levels of airborne contaminants, including molds, chemical fumigants (toxic chemicals), and gases associated with decaying and fermenting silage. Storage structures can also develop hazardous atmospheres due to gases given off from spoiling grain or fumigation. Workers can easily get their limbs caught in improperly guarded moving parts of such mechanical equipment. Mechanical equipment within grain storage structures, such as augers and conveyors, present serious entanglement and amputation hazards. Falls can also occur as workers move from the vertical exterior ladders on grain bins to the bin roof or through a bin entrance. Examples of such surfaces include (but are not limited to) floors, machinery, structures, roofs, skylights, unguarded holes, wall and floor openings, ladders, unguarded catwalks, platforms and manlifts. OSHA standards require that both grain dust and ignition sources must be controlled in grain elevators to prevent these often deadly explosions.įalls from height can occur from many walking/working surfaces throughout a grain handling facility. Grain dust is highly combustible and can burn or explode if enough becomes airborne or accumulates on a surface and finds an ignition source (such as hot bearing, overheated motor, misaligned conveyor belt, welding, cutting, and brazing). Grain dust is the main source of fuel for explosions in grain handling. Grain dust explosions are often severe, involving loss of life and substantial property damage. The behavior and weight of the grain make it extremely difficult for a worker to get out of it without assistance. "Bridged" grain and vertical piles of stored grain can also collapse unexpectedly if a worker stands on or near it. Moving grain acts like "quicksand" and can bury a worker in seconds.
Suffocation can occur when a worker becomes buried (engulfed) by grain as they walk on moving grain or attempt to clear grain built up on the inside of a bin. Suffocation is a leading cause of death in grain storage bins. These hazards include: fires and explosions from grain dust accumulation, suffocation from engulfment and entrapment in grain bins, falls from heights and crushing injuries and amputations from grain handling equipment. The grain handling industry is a high hazard industry where workers can be exposed to numerous serious and life threatening hazards. What are the hazards in grain handling facilities? Grain handling facilities include grain elevators, feed mills, flour mills, rice mills, dust pelletizing plants, dry corn mills, facilities with soybean flaking operations, and facilities with dry grinding operations of soycake. Grain handling facilities are facilities that may receive, handle, store, process and ship bulk raw agricultural commodities such as (but not limited to) corn, wheat, oats, barley, sunflower seeds, and soybeans. OSHA has developed this webpage to provide workers, employers, and safety and health professionals useful, up-to-date safety and health information on grain handling facilities.
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