News

Nationwide urges use of safety tubes for grain bin rescue

An insurance company is awarding special grain bin rescue equipment during this Grain Bin Safety Week. Over eight years, Nationwide Insurance has awarded more than 150 grain bin rescue tubes to fire departments and rescue operations in 29 states. Jason Berkland is associate vice president of risk management with Nationwide, “Of that 152 tubes that we’ve awarded, four have been used in actual rescues and we’re happy to say we saved potentially four lives from people

Berkland says it’s important for farmers to take precautions, always, when working in and around grain bins. Rescue efforts, even with special tools, can take hours, “Most rescues take an average – hours – to kind of get people there, get a plan, get the rescue tubes there, get them in safely. And then to get the grain out of the tube so the person can free themselves.”

Berkland tells Brownfield Ag News their top advice is never go into a grain bin alone.

Farmers can nominate their fire departments to win a grain rescue tube at “Think Grain Bin Safety dot com.”