K.W. Kelly and W.E.
Field
NIOSH Education and Information Division
A study
was undertaken to estimate the frequency and contributing
factors associated with flowing grain entrapment fatalities,
with special attention given to on-farm grain storage facilities
and grain transport vehicles. A total of 248 fatal incidents
were identified in 23 states and one Canadian province during
the period 1964 through 1994.
Data
was compiled and analyzed with respect to the incident, age
of the victims, state, and type of grain involved. A number
of non-fatal grain entrapments were also identified, but are
not included in the study's findings. Children, especially
males, between the ages of one and sixteen are the most vulnerable
to entrapment and suffocation in flowing grain. This group
accounted for 34% of all identified cases. Analysis of the
data provided no clear evidence to suggest whether the magnitude
of the problem is increasing or decreasing. The identified
cases are more likely representative of the problem.
Results
of this analysis will be used in the creation of intervention
methods and recommendations to prevent future entrapments
in grain storage facilities and grain transport vehicles.
The presentation will be a summary of the identified incidents
with the focus on those incidents grouped into the two dominant
agent of injury categories, bins/silos and grain transport
vehicles (GTVs).
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
This
research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings
of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention and
Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State University
and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by the Centers
for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health.
The
authors noted above are from: Both at Purdue University, West
Lafayette, IN.
|