Dominic Coppolo
New York
Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health
As we
move further into the fall season, farmers throughout the
northeast are filling their silos with chopped corn. Making
nutritious feed for livestock is a vital task on any farm,
but equally important is handling the silage safely. Because
of the presence of nitrogen dioxide gases, the silo is a dangerous
and possibly lethal place to enter for up to three weeks after
being filled.
One
way to avoid this hazard is to make sure silage distributors
are adequate for the silo and properly adjusted to assure
uniform distribution of silage. This will make it unnecessary
for anyone to enter the silo to manually level silage during
or after filling.
Silo
areas should also be off limits to children and visitors during
the entire three week danger period.
If someone
absolutely must enter the silo during this three week period,
a NIOSH-approved, self-contained breathing apparatus should
be worn and the silo ventilated for at least 20 minutes prior
to entry. In addition, someone should be stationed on the
silo blower platform, maintain visible contact with the person
in the silo, and have a lifeline attached so that he or she
can pull the victim out if the person inside is overcome by
silo gas.
If you
are inside a silo and experience any coughing or throat irritation,
get out immediately!
Please
remember that the potential danger of silo gases cannot be
emphasized enough. The surest way to remain safe and healthy
is to stay away from the silo for the full three weeks after
it has been filled.
Next
week we will look at some further hazards that silos present.
Disclaimer
and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not
represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears
by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
NASD Review: 04/2002
Dominic Coppolo,
Assistant Research Director, NYCAMH.
This
public service announcement was produced by the New York Center
for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH), One Atwell
Road, Cooperstown, New York 13326 - Ph# (607) 547-6023 or
(800) 343-7527 in the northeast. Publication date: 1994.
|