2012-2013 In Review

A map showing the blast radius of the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, April 17, 2012.  CBS NEWS

WEST, Texas — Emergency teams went house to house through mounds of debris in a devastated four-block area of West, Texas, on Thursday in hopes of finding survivors of an earthquake-like blast at a fertilizer plant that sent a ball of fire and burning embers into nearby homes, killing as many as 15 people and injuring more than 160, police said.

Report: Man buried in soybeans and killed in Shiawassee County farming accident HAZELTON TOWNSHIP, MI — A farmer was killed after being buried under soybeans inside a silo during a farming accident Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013, the Argus Press reports.  Roy Wayne Potter, 65, was working to fix a mechanical problem during an operation to offload soybeans from a silo about 2:30 p.m. when the beans broke loose and buried him, according to the Shiawassee County Sheriff's Office. 

Two Teens Die After Falling Into Michigan Silo Tuesday, July 13, 2010 MIDDLEVILLE, Mich. - Authorities say two teenage workers at a western Michigan dairy farm have died after falling into a silo. The Barry County Sheriff's Department says the accident happened Monday evening. The farm is about 125 miles west of Detroit. Authorities identified the victims as 18-year-old Victor Perez and 17-year-old Francisco M. Martinez. Authorities say they were using a power-washer to clean a 10-foot high silo when they fell in. The silo was used to store a molasses-type mixture used in cow feed. Farm worker Bob Forbes told The Grand Rapids Press the teens weren't doing something particularly dangerous and they knew how to do it.

Silos Loom as Death Traps on American Farms Published: October 28, 2012 STERLING, Mich. — Tommy Osier, 18, a popular but indifferent student, was still a year from graduating from high school, and that was no sure thing. Farm work paid him $7.40 an hour, taught him discipline and gave him new skills. He had begun talking about making a life in farming. But he hated the chore he drew on Memorial Day of last year, working inside the silo at Pine Grove Farm. The corn was damp and crusted. It tended to hang up on the sides of the old six-story cement bin and had to be busted up with a steel rod before it would cascade to the bottom to be shoveled out.

‘They Didn’t Have a Clue’ Wyatt Whitebread, 14, had been on the job for just two weeks at a commercial grain-elevator complex in Mount Carroll, Ill., when he was sent into a 500,000-bushel storage tower to loosen corn kernels that were sticking to the side. Bin No. 9 was one of more than a dozen buildings on the property owned and operated by Haasbach L.L.C. Shortly after he and other teenage workers entered the bin on July 10, 2010, a manager at the base opened two floor holes to speed the flow of the grain. The sudden action dragged Wyatt, who was walking atop the corn to help it flow, toward the floor of the bin, engulfing him under the corn as he screamed for help. Alejandro Pacas, 19, who had joined the work crew the day before, rushed over to aid him and was quickly entrapped himself. Both teenagers died in seconds. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/us/on-us-farms-deaths-in-silos-persist.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Inside the Silo

Entering the Danger Zone http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/29/us/29silo-grafik.html?ref=us

Virtually every entrapment is preventable, Dr Virtually every entrapment is preventable, Dr. Field said, by following simple guidelinesestablished by the Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. CFR 1910.272(a)Scope. This section contains requirements for the control of grain dust fires and explosions, and certain other safety hazards associated with grain handling facilities. It applies in addition to all other relevant provisions of Part 1910 (or Part 1917 at marine terminals).  Before any worker enters a grain silo, employers must turn off all power equipment, particularly loaders and augers. Any worker entering a bin must be provided a safety harness or a supporting chair. There must be an observer monitoring the bin worker at all times. No one should enter a bin when grain is bridged overhead or built up on the sides. Air must be tested for the presence of combustible or toxic gases. Almost none of these precautions were followed the day the teenagers died at the Illinois elevator or at the farm where Tommy Osier died. The Labor Department identified two dozen violations of required safety practices and child labor laws that contributed to the deaths of Alejandro Pacas and Wyatt Whitebread.

Source: BLS Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries

http://www. michigan. gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-54783_54784-115349--,00 http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,4612,7-132-54783_54784-115349--,00.html