Feed&Grain.com |

The 911 call comes in to the dispatcher. Emergency medical teams and a fire and rescue unit are requested to answer a call for help at the local grain elevator. The clock is ticking and time is already working against the victim, who has been involved in an accident inside a grain bin.

Their minds racing, the first responders are using the sketchy details in hand to make their plan, for what they hope will be a rescue . . . and not a recovery.

Sadly, this scenario is played out all too often in our industry and confined space entries (CSEs) represent the lion’s share of tragic accidents at grain elevators and feed mills.

“From a first response standpoint, confined spaces are problematic because you aren’t always sure what you’ll face upon arrival,” says Michael Brink, president and chief operating officer, Safety and Technical Rescue Assn. (SATRA). “You can have a variety of conditions that change your approach with CSEs, so having as much information at hand is critical.”

CSEs defined

A confined space can be defined using the following parameters:

• A space that is large enough to allow someone to physically enter and conduct a work activity;
• Has limited or restrictive entry or exit routes;
• Is not designed for continuous human occupancy; and
• Contains any recognized serious safety or health hazard including hazardous atmosphere (bad air) or material that can engulf the occupant.

Once you have defined a confined space, CSE hazards can be divided into three primary categories:

Atmospheric, Engulfment and Mechanical.

Atmospheric threats include the presence of gas or other harmful fumes which can overcome a person; a situation where gas, vapors or dust is a source of combustion; or, a space which lacks adequate oxygen levels.

Engulfment scenarios — easily the most common CSE threat in the feed and grain industry — involve grain or other materials which shift to entrap or engulf the victim, rendering them immobile or buried and resulting in suffocation.

Mechanical hazards present potential injury when workers come in contact with equipment inside an enclosed space. Common threats include bin sweeps, augers, loading/unloading equipment and cables.