Grain Entrapment Prevention Symposium Concludes in St. Louis, MO
More than 175 attendees from 19 states participated in event
The 2012 Grain Entrapment Prevention Symposium drew over 175 attendees, representing (19) states, Washington D.C. and two Canadian Provinces.
This was a broad coalition of various groups throughout the industry, including:
- Grain handling companies
- Nine steel bin manufacturing firms
- Five Land Grant Universities
- Three insurance underwriters
- Three safety consulting groups
- Three to five emergency response groups
- Families who lost loved ones in past grain engulfments
- 16 to 18 entities that offer either engineering services, safety consulting, (and/or) other products to the grain industry
The group of attendees submitted over 70 written comments and perspectives on our objectives, along with thoughts on the more than 20 speakers who shared presentations during this three-day event. Copies of these presentations can be found on www.grainentrapmentprevention.com and grainnet, after April 2, 2012.
The Steel Bin Manufacturing Council met on the evening of March 22, 2012 to review the new – proposed Design Parameters for future Grain Handling facilities. The group realizes that it is hugely impractical to retrofit or scrap the equipment in the 300,000+ bins that have been built in the past 40 – 50 years. Our focus needs to be on grain handling facilities that will be built in the future, which was the focus of the Symposium.
To that end, Dr. Carol Jones with Okla.State Univ. and Harmon Towne, retired, will continue to share these proposed consensus standards with ASABE, whose next meeting will be held in Dallas on August 1 & 2, 2012.
There was a great deal of attention at the Symposium on:
1). Grain Conditioning, Aeration & Temperature Systems.
2). Restraint Systems ( Anchorage Points & Belay Systems)
3). Safer & more efficient Reclaim Systems.
The (#1) objective of the Grain Entrapment Prevention Initiative is to reduce the number of “Reported Grain Entrapments” and resulting Fatalities in the grain industry. The initiative and this Symposium, is not about Regulatory Compliance, which is a secondary issue. We wish to continue to focus on Real Threats, not perceived threats.
The Safety and Technical Rescue Association (SATRA) introduced a new rescue training video they just released. It can be ordered from SATRA for $195, which includes a manual and group of Power Points for training purposes.
Also, KSU and GEAPS have two new – Distance Learning Courses that you can sign-up for in April on Aeration & Grain Conditioning and Grain Entrapment Prevention.
We continue to strongly encourage every grain handling facility to offer some type of “hands-on” - training every year. Future training classes and schedules will be shared on:
Steve Queen and John Lee shared excellent ideas on how various groups are conducting Hazard Assessments and mitigating the hazards, so employees can work safely in existing grain bins, while the sweep augers are energized. The group discussed the various types of dangers involving sweep augers versus working around unguarded discharge or sump holes.
