By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Staff Writer
No one needs to die this way.
Already this year there have been five documented cases and two deaths by grain bin entrapment in Minn. And the season is just beginning.
Grain bin entrapment, in which a farmer becomes buried in grain, typically occurs in early summer, when grain has been stored all winter in the hopes of getting a better price during the warm season.
This year, fortunately, there have been fewer entrapments documented than in the past couple of years. This is partly due to the superior grain quality coming out of the fields last fall compared to previous years. Because the grain was drier last fall, spoilage is less likely to occur, which means the grain doesn't clog up the machinery when farmers try to empty the bin. Also, the price has been good, so farmers are selling off their grain before it becomes spoiled.
Spoilage is the biggest cause of grain bin entrapment. Farmers chill their grain during the winter, much like people refrigerate food from the grocery store, so it keeps longer. But the spring's warmer temperatures cause the grain to sweat. Just about the time when farmers are sowing seed in the fields, last year's grain begins to spoil.
Jack Volz, owner of the company Safety and Security Consultation Specialists, gives an example of the type of scenario that readily leads to an entrapment: “Most likely they've got spoiled grain in [the bin] and they're trying to relieve the issues of getting the grain out. They'll have a crust on top. They'll have a chunk of the crust that has worked its way down to the auger and has closed off the auger.” It's at that point that farmers sometimes decide to tempt fate and walk out on top of the grain to get the grain moving again. The problem, according to Volz, is that this tactic very often works; the grain starts moving and suddenly the farmer is trapped up to his waist or even over his head.
The worst thing an observer can do when someone becomes entrapped in grain is to go in after them.
Once someone becomes entrapped in grain, a time bomb is ticking on that person's life. “We have an amount of time to get that person out, depending on how they're entrapped,” says Volz. Sometimes a family member or other individual sees someone entrapped in grain and decides to walk out onto the grain to pull the entrapped individual out. “First of all, it takes way too much force to pull them out,” says Volz. “You can't just grab them and pull them out. Second of all, as they walk down that angle of grain in that bin, they're going to start grain flowing into the center. It closes in that cone. In the bins that we've got now, some of them are gaining three feet or more. So, as you walk down that angle to help somebody, it flows three feet down, and now they're not buried up to their waist anymore; they're buried to their chin or over their head. So there's a way that we have to control that flow when we go in, and our first responders, our fire departments are trained on how to do that.
“For a while there we had people trying to tear holes in the side of the bin,” says Volz of another failed rescue method. “I don't like to see that done. If the fire department chooses to cut holes in the side [...], we have a way that we do that to maintain the structural stability of the bin.” Volz cites one incident when a farmer was entrapped along the side of the bin instead of in the middle. Someone was ramming holes in the side of the bin with a skid loader to try to get him out. “He missed him by about a foot on one side, and six or eight inches on the other. He had no idea where he was.” That incident ended in a recovery rather than a rescue.
Is it safe to walk out onto grain if the equipment is turned off? “Somewhat,” says Volz. “The grain is not going to suck you down if the equipment is not running. However there is this angle – this big inverted cone.” Grain flows down into the cone from the outside in, a process called 'surge flow.' Depending on the size of the bin, the grain can flow several feet in seconds. In a million bushel grain bin, Volz once measured the rise of the grain at 16 ½ feet.
The good news is that there have been some advances in the ability of rescuers to get an entrapped individual out, although walking onto grain is still far from risk free. Rescuers used to estimate that an entrapped individual had only a 10% chance of survival. The survival rate is up to more like 45%. Part of the reason for that is increased rescuer training and safety talks. Another reason for the lower fatality rate is that it's getting more common for fire departments to have specialized equipment available for grain bin entrapment. “It's actually pretty easy for departments to get the equipment,” says Volz, “because our ag producers, our farmers, our cooperatives donate money for them to get that, because it is definitely life saving equipment, and it is something that pertains to the ag industry.” The New Richland fire department has a completely outfitted trailer for grain bin rescue. “They're one of about three departments I know that have something like that,” says Volz.
1) What advice would Volz give someone whose grain isn't moving out of the bin? “Do not go into a bin with the unloading equipment operating, plain and simple,” says Volz. “If you're going in a bin, have somebody watching over you. I can't stress that strongly enough. One of the biggest things we have happen is that guys get buried and they're buried for two, three hours plus before anybody knows they're missing.” Many farmers work alone, but Volz cites the readiness with which neighbors pitch in if a farmer becomes incapacitated and cannot harvest his crops in the fall. “Farmers like to help farmers. They're there for each other. They understand the way of life.” If you're alone and you need someone to watch over you while you move grain, call a neighbor and ask for help. Another potential resource are the retired farmers who show up at the local coffee shop. “They would love to come and help out on the farm!” says Volz. “What's it going to cost you to have a retired farmer come out and help you? A cup of coffee? A piece of pie or a doughnut? It's not an expensive thing to get these guys to help you.”
Another potentially life saving thing to do is to label the power switches on your equipment, so that, in the event of an emergency, first responders know what to shut off. “And keep it simple,” says Volz, “because we don't know what we're looking at unless you've got it labeled.” Last fall at the Corn Growers Association, a farmer complained that magic marker fades after a couple of years, and asked what he should do. Volz responded, “You buy a new magic marker and you write over the top of it.”
Volz keeps busy doing grain bin rescue presentations, averaging two per week, but he speculates whether, rather than instructing fire departments in grain bin rescue, he might potentially save more lives by spending his time teaching farmers how to keep their grain from spoiling in the first place. “If the grain doesn't spoil, they turn the auger on, it augers out, and it's gone,” says Volz, who warns farmers that they must inspect their grain every week to make sure it's in good condition, and take all the steps necessary to ensure that it remains that way. Per Volz, temperatures change so rapidly in the spring that, during the two or three weeks that farmers leave it uninspected to plant their new crops, the grain in the bins can go from really good condition to having a spoilage issue.
Volz also points out that it's better to sell off the grain at a cheaper price than to let it spoil, because spoiled grain doesn't get a good price anyway.
To summarize: Don't walk out onto a bin of grain, especially with the equipment running. Label the power switches on your equipment. Don't work alone. If you see someone become entrapped in grain, shut down the equipment and dial 911 immediately. Don't try to rescue the individual yourself as this increases the risk of death. We at the Star Eagle implore our area farmers to work safely.