Grain Safety - Why Should I Care?
Apr 01, 2022
At MKC, grain safety is crucial because everyone deserves to go home to their families at the end of the day. Hundreds of people die or are injured each year due to preventable hazards in grain storage and handling 
facilities. It is for each and every one of our employees and member-owners involved in the grain industry that we take part in Grain Safety Week.
In 2020, there were 18.33 billion bushels of stored corn and soybeans and 8,263 commercial grain storage facilities in the U.S. While the number of fatalities are relatively small compared to the number of storage facilities, safety doesn’t need to be big to be effective.
The number of grain entrapments decreased by 4.5% in 2020 in the U.S. from the year prior, but 57% of those grain entrapments were fatal. While grain entrapments continue to exceed the number of other agricultural injuries, they aren’t the only grain handling hazards.
Other hazards can include suffocation from engulfment and entrapment in grain bins, falls resulting in crushing injuries, amputations from grain handling equipment, and fires and grain dust explosions.
The total number of confined space incidents continue to increase and are 4.375% higher than the five-year average. In the last five years, roughly half of all confined space-related injuries were fatal.
“At MKC, we aren’t shy that safety is our number one key to success,” says Jeff Jones, vice president and director of eastern operations. “Because safety is MKC’s most important value, it is critical to our cooperative that our member-owners and employees have the necessary tools to be safe when in and around grain bins or grain storage facilities.”
To learn more about grain safety precautions, we encourage you to check out these free recourses:
NGFA Safety Tips: Preparing Bins For Harvest
Bin Entry Safety video by NGFA: Bin Entry Safety
OSHA Grain Handling Safety Overview: Grain Handling
To learn more about #StandUp4GrainSafety week, visit standup4grainsafety.org.
All information about grain safety in this article was provided by standup4grainsafety.org.
facilities. It is for each and every one of our employees and member-owners involved in the grain industry that we take part in Grain Safety Week. In 2020, there were 18.33 billion bushels of stored corn and soybeans and 8,263 commercial grain storage facilities in the U.S. While the number of fatalities are relatively small compared to the number of storage facilities, safety doesn’t need to be big to be effective.
The number of grain entrapments decreased by 4.5% in 2020 in the U.S. from the year prior, but 57% of those grain entrapments were fatal. While grain entrapments continue to exceed the number of other agricultural injuries, they aren’t the only grain handling hazards.
Other hazards can include suffocation from engulfment and entrapment in grain bins, falls resulting in crushing injuries, amputations from grain handling equipment, and fires and grain dust explosions.
The total number of confined space incidents continue to increase and are 4.375% higher than the five-year average. In the last five years, roughly half of all confined space-related injuries were fatal.
“At MKC, we aren’t shy that safety is our number one key to success,” says Jeff Jones, vice president and director of eastern operations. “Because safety is MKC’s most important value, it is critical to our cooperative that our member-owners and employees have the necessary tools to be safe when in and around grain bins or grain storage facilities.”
To learn more about grain safety precautions, we encourage you to check out these free recourses:
NGFA Safety Tips: Preparing Bins For Harvest
Bin Entry Safety video by NGFA: Bin Entry Safety
OSHA Grain Handling Safety Overview: Grain Handling
To learn more about #StandUp4GrainSafety week, visit standup4grainsafety.org.
All information about grain safety in this article was provided by standup4grainsafety.org.