We were pleased to have over 160 attendees join us last year at the Second – Grain Entrapment Prevention Symposium held last March in St. Louis. . During that Symposium, we discussed that the grain industry needed to adopt a “Paradigm Shift” in terms of the way we train our employees, along with the type of grain handling facilities we have been operating.  We recognized that this “paradigm shift” was needed; if we hoped to reduce the number of needless deaths we have been experiencing from grain engulfment’s the past 5-7 years.

We have been producing and distributing – Grain Entrapment Prevention flyers the past few years to help raise the awareness of Best Management Practices that must be followed when working in a grain bin and we have also been encouraging everyone to adopt the new – Design Parameters when constructing new grain handling facilities in the future. We need to operate safer and more efficient facilities in the future, if we hope to reverse the trend-line we have been experiencing with ever increasing numbers of fatalities in this area since 2003. .

We also need to do a better job of documenting our safety policies,  providing  “hands-on” training for our employees, building safer reclaim systems and identifying emergency responders who are better equipped and trained to respond in a timely and effective manner in the event of an actual incident.  If you fail to address these issues, you will remain vulnerable to costly OSHA citations, along with devastating fatalities.   

We hope to see another good cross section of people at our Symposium this coming March in Lincoln, NE. , including: grain handlers, steel bin manufacturers, insurance underwriters, academia, and emergency responders. We sincerely hope that you are one of the attendees.

I will summarize some of the things to be shared in this coming  Symposium :

Tuesday – March 12^th:

Attendees can check-in late that afternoon and participate with each other during a Social Period that evening. This will be a good time to pick-up your registration materials, and socialize with other attendees over a few cocktails. We may have a few presentations that evening between 7:00 and 9:00 PM. 

Wednesday – March 13^th:

As you travel from West to East across highway 80 in Nebraska, you pass Chief located in Kearney, Global Industries in Grand Island and Behlen in Columbus. 

To start this Symposium, we will be embarking on a bus tour at 8 AM that morning to Global Industries’ – Research and Production facilities in Grand Island. This trip will include a couple of education sessions, tours and box lunch. We thank Global Industries for making this trip possible for all attendees.

Global Industries is headquartered in the heart of the U.S. grain belt, Global Industries, Inc. is a leading world-wide designer, manufacturer, and supplier of grain storage, conditioning, drying and handling solutions, engineered metal buildings, and wastewater treatment systems. Global Industries is a family owned company that brings its experience and expertise to global markets with world-class systems and solutions through a network of dealers and distributors on virtually every continent around the globe. At Global Industries, the customers’ ultimate success is the highest priority, no matter how large or complex grain handling and storage solution needs may be. It’s the commitment to product quality and innovation as well as excellence in service that makes it possible. Global Industries has four manufacturing  divisions: NECO located in Omaha-Nebraska, MFS/York/Stormor  in Grand Island-Nebraska, Sentinel Buildings in Albion-Nebraska, and Hutchinson/Mayrath in Clay Center, Kansas. The Corporate Headquarters and the Research and Development Center are located in Grand Island-Nebraska. The company also operates multiple sales offices in various countries.