Stay Informed

Last year saw a roughly 40% increase in the number of reported cases nationwide involving agricultural confined spaces, according to a report recently released by the Purdue University Agricultural Safety and Health Program.

The Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-Related Injuries and Fatalities is released annually and documents the previous year’s frequency and causes of confined space and grain entrapment incidents in the agricultural industry. It also provides a historical analysis of agricultural confined space hazards.

In 2022, the summary reported 83 cases – 24 fatal and 59 nonfatal – involving agricultural confined spaces. This represents a 40.7% increase over the 59 cases reported in 2021. Not every case may be reported, and as a result, these numbers are approximate.

Of the total number of confinement cases, 42 grain-related entrapments represented a 44.8% increase over 2021. This was the highest number of reported grain entrapments in over a decade. According to the authors, grain entrapments are the most common type of agricultural confined space incident.

The states with the most documented confined space cases of all types in 2022, including fatal and non-fatal, were Iowa with 24; and Indiana, Minnesota and Ohio with six each.

The four states with the largest number of cases historically have been Iowa, 288; Indiana, 238; Minnesota, 225; and Illinois, 218.

“In the summary, an issue we try to point out is the role of out-of-condition grain in grain entrapments,” said Edward Sheldon, research associate with the program and one of the authors of the study. “Many entrapments result from someone entering a bin or structure to break loose clumped, spoiled grain. Keep the grain in good condition to eliminate the need to enter the bin.”

When considering the 41 non-grain-related cases, the incidents involved livestock waste handling facilities, entanglements inside confined spaces, falls from confined space structures and grain dust explosions or fires.

“We strongly encourage farmers and agribusiness employers to recognize the hazards presented by confined spaces such as grain bins, silos and manure storage facilities, and use best management practices and effective training programs to keep their families and employees safe,” Sheldon added.  

Visit Purdue’s Agricultural Confined Spaces page to access a summary of the report, or contact Sheldon at ejsheldo@purdue.edu.

Resources

• Purdue’s Agricultural Confined Spaces website provides instructional materials for safety and health training with an emphasis on grain storage and handling hazards. Included are training materials for first responders as well as for young or beginning grain industry workers, frequently asked questions, past summaries of injuries and fatalities, and an extensive list of resources.
• Gearing Up for Safety includes two educational lessons on agricultural confined spaces including videos.
• Posey County Farm Bureau collaborated with Purdue to produce Anatomy of an Entrapment: Stop – Think – Live, a video that reenacts the actual grain bin entrapment of Posey County farmer Jim Droege. Copies have been distributed to more than 550 county Farm Bureau presidents, ag education teachers, county extension offices and many first responder agencies. It also can be viewed on the video section of Purdue’s Agricultural Confined Spaces website by scrolling down to Anatomy of an Entrapment.