Since the 1970’s Purdue University’s Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department has been documenting and investigating incidents involving grain storage and handling facilities at both commercial and on-farm locations. Beginning in 2013, the effort was expanded, with support from a U.S. Department of LaborSusan Harwood Training Grant, to include incidents involving grain transport vehicles (trucks, wagons, railcars); injuries occurring inside of confined spaces due to exposure to powered mechanical components, such as augers; falls from or into confined spaces; and other types of agricultural confined spaces including forage storage silos, liquid storage tanks, and manure storage facilities.
The following are highlights from the 2019 findings.
- No fewer than 67 fatal and non-fatal cases involving all types of agricultural confined spaces were documented in 2019, representing a 9.8% increase over 2018.
- There were 38 grain entrapments in 2019 representing a 26.7% increase over 2018.
- 56.7% of all cases documented involved grain-related entrapments as compared to other cases involving falls, entanglements, and asphyxiations in all types of agricultural confined spaces.
- All documented cases were male.
- 58.2% (39)of 2019 cases were fatal compared to 61% historically.
- Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska reported the most cases in 2019. Historically, Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota have recorded the most agricultural confined space cases.
- Minnesota reported the most grain-entrapment cases in 2019. Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois have recorded the most grain entrapment cases over time.
- Eight casesin 2019 involved youth under the age of 21, of which five involved manure handling or storage.
- OSHA Region 5 and 7 have historically accounted for 68.4% of all documented agricultural confined space-related incidents.
- The number of agricultural confined space-related fatalities documented exceeded the number of mining-related fatalities in 2019 (39versus 24).
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