This one day course is designed to raise awareness about bin-rescue procedures
and equipment, will provide extensive hands-on training. Participants will
gain experience working in grain bins and using technical rescue
equipment, such as ropes, harnesses, carabiners, mechanical-advantage
systems, anchorage points, cofferdams, breathing apparatus, tripods, and
victim packaging. They will experience first hand an actual engulfment
and the pressures involved on their body.

Participants will get their hands dirty. We will be simulating engulfment,
and actually be pulling people out of grain, just like in a rescue situation.
We’ll be packaging people and pulling them through the roofs of bins,
working at heights, and building cofferdams in grain. We’re going to show
how time-intensive and how difficult these things can be.

It happens every year. Farmers, or cooperative employees, go inside
their grain bins to level out the corn or to break up clumps of corn to
prevent augers from clogging. It's a necessary if you're part of the grain
industry.
Most of the time the grain is leveled out without incident. Often enough
that safety measures can be forgotten - and an accident happens.

That's when headlines are made - when the immense pressure of the
corn suffocates someone.
It will take 800 pounds of lift to remove a man buried just to his waist in
corn. By the time he's buried to his chest, the corn shifts every time he
exhales, preventing him from inhaling, and he will suffocate slowly.
A lot of people don't give a lot of thought of what they need to do in the
case of a grain bin emergency. An untrained person can do a lot of
damage trying to help.



Grain safety tips

* Label grain bins to warn of the entrapment hazards.
* Lock entrances to grain handling areas to keep bystanders and children
out.
* Install ladders inside bins.
* Do not enter grain bins that are being loaded or unloaded. Flowing grain
can trap and suffocate you in seconds.
* If it is necessary to enter a bin, shut off and lock out power before
entering. Use a safety harness and safety line. Have several people
available outside the bin to lift entrant out in the case of an emergency.
* Wear NIOSH-approved dust-filtering respirators when working in and
around grain handling areas. High amounts of dust and molds could be
present and are extremely dangerous.
* Wear approved hearing protection when working around noisy
equipment, aeration fans, dryers, etc.
* Be very cautious of grain that may have gone out of condition. Crusted
grain may have cavities beneath the surface that can collapse - leading to
entrapment and suffocation.
* Keep bystanders and children away from grain bins and grain handling
equipment.

Inspection Procedures:
Are ladders in good condition?
Is lockout available for power?
Is electrical equipment safe?
Are overhead power lines nearby?
Are approved respirators available?
Are guards and shields in place?

Permission to reprint granted by the National Safety Council, a
membership organization dedicated to protecting life and promoting health.