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Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week kicks off today

The fifth annual Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week kicks off today.

Kim Stille, OSHA’s regional administrator in the Kansas City area, says the event is raising awareness of grain handling and grain storage hazards.

“And to share those resources to make sure everybody has at their fingertips what is critical to ensure employee safety when they do work in and around grain bins and the grain handling industry,” she says.

Six out of every 10 workers trapped in a grain bin don’t survive. Stille says there are several critical steps to ensure grain safety.

“In the event they have to go in, they need to make sure the auger, which causes the grain to move and flow, is turned off and locked out so that they don’t get caught in that moving grain and pulled into the auger,” she says.

Other steps include wearing a safety harness and anchored lifeline, testing air in the bin before entering, placing a trained observer outside the bin in case of emergency, and more.  

Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week, kicking off today and continuing through April 2, is a collaboration between the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, National Grain and Feed Association, the Grain Handling Safety Coalition, and the Grain Elevator and Processing Society.

Stille says the event allows employers and employees to focus on what the hazards of the industry are and how to prevent the hazards from materializing. OSHA’s Grain Handling Safety Standards focus on the industry’s six major hazards: engulfment, falls, auger entanglement, “struck by”, combustible dust explosions, and electrocution hazard.

Webinars, information, and more can be found at standup4grainsafety.org, osha.gov, or 1-800-321-6742.

Audio: Kim Stille