COLUMBUS, Ohio – Farming is a dangerous occupation. While tractor mishaps get the most headlines, grain bin deaths are just a prevalent on the farm.

Each year, thousands of farmers are exposed to the life-threatening hazard associated with entering grain bins to remove rotting or clumped grain. In a matter of seconds, a farmer can lose his footing or grip inside a dusty bin and sink waist-deep in the suction of flowing grain.

In 2019, there were 38 grain bin entrapments according to Purdue University. That’s a 26.7 percent increase from 2018. In 2020 there were 23 grain bin deaths.

Six out of every 10 workers trapped in a grain bin don’t make it out alive. With this in mind, four key groups have made grain bins their focus during the 5th annual “Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week.”

The event, March 29-April 2, is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Grain Handling Safety Coalition, the Grain Elevator and Processing Society and the National Grain and Feed Association.

“Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week will bring industry professionals together to focus on how small changes can eliminate dangerous hazards that can cause great harm to their employees,” said Jim Frederick, principal deputy assistant secretary for OSHA. “This important collaboration will strengthen our coalition of agribusiness and safety professionals, and reinforce our shared commitment to safety and training.”

This kick-off event included live safety demonstrations and success stories, free virtual webinars, bin safety and emergency action plans.

The alliance has identified seven critical steps for grain safety: 1) Turn off lockout equipment before entering a bin or performing maintenance; 2) Never walk down grain to make it flow; 3) Test the air in the bin before entering; 4) Use a safety harness and anchored lifeline; 5) Place a trained observer outside of the bin in case of an emergency; 6) Do not enter a bin when grain is built up on the side; 7) Control the accumulation of grain dust through housekeeping.

OSHA held the first “Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week” in 2017 and the event continues to grow as the organizations combine their talents, resources and knowledge to develop more training and educational offerings, expand partnerships with other industry organizations and reach across the entire grain industry spectrum.

OHSA’s Grain Handling Safety Standards focus on the grain and feed industry’s six major hazards: engulfment, falls, auger entanglement, “struck by,” combustible dust explosions and electrocution hazard.

Experts agree that the problems start when many farmers store grain at higher than recommended moisture levels in the fall. Grain stored at above 15 percent, they said, can cause it to degrade in the bin and become more susceptible to mold.

“The lack of consistency and low quality of the grain make it more likely to clump, stick to the sides of a bin or form a crust over the top,” said Jeff Adkisson, a farmer who is vice president of the Grain and Feed Association of Illinois, and also serves on the board of the national Grain Handling Safety Council. “Those conditions make the grain flow less freely from the bins and make it more likely farmers will have to enter the bins to keep the grain moving.

“Grain quality is directly linked to safety. This particular crop is not storing well. It came in wet, it didn’t dry down very well and there’s a lot of broken material in the bins. As a result, we have seen an uptick in situations where people have become engulfed and trapped or have died in grain bins.”

Grain bin deaths in 

FW readership area

Many grain bin deaths have occurred in all states in the Farm World readership area the past two years:

KENTUCKY

In Graves County, Adolfo Garcia, 44, perished when he tried to dislodge a portion of grain that was stuck inside a bin, but he lost his footing and became engulfed by the corn.

OHIO

Josh Stone, 29, and James Heilman, 56, both died after becoming engulfed in grain after attempting to clear a clogged floor hole in a grain bin at an agribusiness in Toledo.

TENNESSEE

In McMinn County, Billy Dougherty, 63, was unloading grain into his truck when a boom came into contact with power lines, electrocuting this farmer.

MICHIGAN

Robert Othmer, 72, of Vermontville, was working inside a silo when he became trapped beneath just two feet of corn.

IOWA

Hardin County farmer Ken Reece, 79, was killed when the corn in his grain bin burst out a side door and engulfed him.

Plymouth County farmer Daniel Cronin, 65, was found trapped inside his grain bin when the crust of grain he was loosening gave way, engulfing Cronin.

INDIANA

Stephen Crocker, 29, of Martinsville, died after the catastrophic collapse of a silo that was filled with 500,000 pounds of corn. He had pulled his truck up under a silo to load up with corn. He stepped out of his truck when the collapse occurred, pinning him between the truck and the silo.

In Urbana County, Daniel Haupert, 66, died at his Evansville farm after becoming smothered in a bin full of soybeans. Like so many others, Haupert attempted to free clumping inside the bin.

ILLINOIS

David Lowis, 61, lost his life on his first day on the job at this Christian County farm. Lowis had climbed into a grain bin to loosen corn on the sidewall of the silo but lost his footing and became engulfed by the corn.

Leon Matzker, 70, entered a bin as he and others were transferring corn from the bin to an awaiting semi. Matzker lost his footing on the dusty steps inside the bin and became engulfed by the train.

Chester Cleveland, 58, perished after slipping off a ladder and falling 70 feet inside a commercial grain bin near Manteno.