Grain bin hazards

February 20, 2025 | Kriss Nelson

You climb into a grain bin to free up grain that has become crusted. In mere seconds, you’re trapped, unable to move, with minimal hope of survival.

Grain entrapment is danger farmers potentially face when removing grain from their bins. This happens when the suction of moving grain in a bin or silo traps someone partially submerged, making self-rescue impossible and leading to further burial without prompt intervention.

According to Purdue University’s Agriculture Safety and Health Program’s 2023 Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-related Injuries and Fatalities, Iowa reported the most grain-entrapment cases in 2023.

Prioritize grain bin safety

Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH) director, Richard Gassman, emphasizes the vital need for grain bin safety, regardless of expertise.

“A farmer may think it will only take a second. Just a second to go into the bin to free up crusted grain, but in a matter of just four seconds, an adult can sink knee-deep and will be unable to free themselves and within 20 seconds can become completely buried,” he says. “Farmers need to ensure they are following safety protocols at all times.”

According to the Great Plains Center for Public Health (GPCAH) information on grain engulfment and entrapment, grain engulfment has been a recognized hazard for decades. Yet both experienced and inexperienced workers continue to underestimate the deadly risks associated with the speed and force of flowing or shifting grain.

Anyone who enters a storage structure containing grain or who climbs onto an outdoor grain storage pile is at risk of being entrapped or engulfed in grain. Fatalities have occurred in as little as a few feet of grain.

Take preventative measures

Here are five tips from GPAH to prevent becoming engulfed inside a grain bin.

No. 1: Zero entry

The best ways to prevent engulfment incidents are to eliminate the reasons for entering and restrict unauthorized access by youth or other individuals unaware of hazards.

No. 2: Manage grain to prevent spoilage

The most common reason victims enter bins is to address problems associated with spoiled grain. Spoiled grain forms solid masses, crusts and horizontal grain bridges and vertical grain walls that can collapse. Spoiled grain plugs augers and conveyors, causing entry into the structure to unplug or free the clogged equipment.

“Dry grain to the moisture content it needs to be for as long as it needs to be stored,” says Gassman. “Do not store it too wet. That is when grain will clump and bridge.”

No. 3: Work from outside the bin

If clumps or crusts develop in the grain, use a pole from outside the bin to probe or knock the clump free.

No. 4: Restrict access to bins, storage structures and outdoor grain storage piles

No. 5: Post signage warning of hazards

Post signage at all entry points to bins, outdoor storage piles and other storage structures that warns of the potential for engulfment and requires any entry to be done by trained workers following safe procedures.

Rules to follow for entering a bin

Should bin entry become necessary, ensure adequate training and equipment are prepared beforehand.

No. 1: Never enter alone

Two outside observers must be present to monitor entry and assist by regulating a lifeline tether. One attendant must maintain constant visual monitoring of the entrant and have a system of communication worked out before entry (hand signals).

No. 2: Use fall restraint equipment that is properly anchored

This consists of a full-body harness attached to an anchored line and limits the distance the entrant can drop or fall if grain shifts or a grain bridge collapses beneath the entrant. Secure the lifeline to a sidewall anchor (not the interior ladder) or a fixed point outside the bin to prevent the entrant from sinking more than waist-deep into grain. One attendant monitors the feed of the lifeline to the entrant.

No. 3: Utilize lock out/tag out

“Lock out tag out” of a grain bin refers to a safety procedure where you physically lock and tag equipment related to the bin to prevent it from being accidentally turned on while someone is inside, effectively isolating power sources and protecting them from potential hazards like moving augers or grain flow during maintenance or cleaning; essentially, it’s a mandatory step to ensure worker safety when entering a grain bin.

With farming comes risk

Farmers go through a great deal to provide food, fiber and fuel.

“Farmers care greatly about the products they produce. They care about the end user and they are proud of the fact they are feeding the world,” says Gassman. “Farming is a very, very dangerous industry and they do it for the love of agriculture.”

About I-CASH

In 1990, the Iowa State Legislature identified a need for a statewide center addressing concerns in agricultural safety and health. Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (I-CASH) came out of that legislative session and continues to be one of the only mandated, state-funded centers for agricultural safety and health in the country.

Designated as a collaborative effort between four Iowa institutions: The University of Iowa, Iowa State University, the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, I-CASH works to improve the health and safety of the agricultural population by developing statewide prevention and educational initiatives.

Although there have been many structural and technological changes in Iowa’s agriculture, farm-related injuries and fatalities remain higher than those in other industries.

“Our goal is to be on the farm working with farmers to promote agricultural health and safety,” says Gassman.

About Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health

The Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health is located in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. The Center was founded in 1990 and is a nationally recognized resource with an established record of developing and implementing programs of research, intervention, translation, education, and outreach to prevent occupational injury and illness among agricultural workers and their families.

The Center addresses the health and safety needs of agricultural workers in the Midwestern states of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin. These states constitute America’s most agriculturally intensive region.

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