University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Summary of Over 800 Grain Storage and Handling-related Entrapments and

The number of victims (51) of grain-related entrapments and suffocations documented during 2010 was the highest on record. This trend towards an increasing frequency of these incidents is inconsistent with the decreasing frequency of almost all other forms of agricultural-related injuries and fatalities. Contributing factors include the increased storage of grain on-farms, increased commercial storage capacity, increased capacity of handling and transport equipment and the levels of out-of-condition grain due to delayed harvests and inappropriate processing and storage practices. Due to this increase in incidents, considerable attention is being given to exploring cost-effective intervention strategies to reduce the frequency and severity of these incidents. This article provides a preliminary summary of data gathered on over 800 documented incidents involving entrapment or suffocation in U.S. grain storage and handling operations that have been entered into the Purdue Agriculture Confined Space Database (PACSD). Special emphasis is given to those incidents documented in 2010. The Purdue database has incident records dating back to 1964. Specific causative factors including: type of structure or facility, type of grain involved, condition of grain prior to the incident, activities at the time of entrapment and environmental conditions are summarized. Recommendations for engineering, regulatory and worker education measures are included along with th