GSI conducted safety training last week as part of Grain Bin Safety Week. (Photo courtesy National Corn Growers Association)
By Carrie Muehling
ASSUMPTION, Ill. – Grain bin safety is important all year long, but comes to the forefront during Grain Bin Safety Week, which was Feb. 22-28.
GSI Group headquartered in Assumption, Ill. conducted some safety training last week with a focus on ensuring critical employees and first responders are properly trained to perform an engulfment rescue.
“The key with a grain bin rescue is buying enough time so that you can safely extract that victim,” said Greg Trame, global product manager for grain storage with GSI.
Trame said the rescues require a rescue tube that allows first responders to remove grain pressure in the bin from a victim that is engulfed. Not every farm has one and neither does every local grain elevator or rural fire department. The industry is trying to make more of the devices available and also ensure people are properly trained to use them.
“The Illinois Grain and Feed Association has actually developed an app that you can download that at any time you can, based on your location, it will tell you where the closest grain bin rescue tube is located. So that if an emergency happens, whether it is on a farm or somewhere that doesn’t have one, you can quickly locate where the closest rescue tube is,” said Trame.
It’s not actual grain storage structure that poses the danger, but the amount of grain inside the bin and its condition.
“Really, the key message to preventing these issues from happening revolves around using safe storage and management practices and using the best practices that are out there from manufacturers such as GSI or your local Extension services,” said Trame. “We can prevent the need to go into these grain bins if we can keep the grain in condition while it’s in there. The majority of the issues and entrapments happen due to grain that has gone out of condition while in storage and it creates a problem during the unloading process.”
Trame said one challenge is reaching the next generation of farmers and first responders when it comes to proper grain handling and conditioning and storage. Knowing what to do and what not to do during harvest to prevent the grain condition from deteriorating is often learned through experience.
In the meantime, safety training is available on a local level for any first responders. Most importantly, Trame encourages farmers to pay attention to the grain condition during fall harvest because of the impact it can have later in the spring or summer when it’s time to unload that grain.
Carrie Muehling can be reached at [email protected].
