Definition
Many agricultural structures and/or equipment may pose risks as a confined space.
"Based upon the definition developed by the NCERA-197 Committee, the OSHA classifications, a review of the literature, and an analysis of documented fatalities and injuries, several general categories and specific examples of confined spaces in agriculture have been identified. These spaces have been the site of a wide variety of incidents including entrapments, engulfments, asphyxiations, entanglements, falls, and electrocutions."
Grain and Feed Storage Facilities
Corrugated steel bins (all sizes)
Steel tanks or silos
Concrete silos
Flat grain storage buildings
Wooden feed storage structures
Sumps and tunnels under storage facilities
Dump pits
Open grain piles
Forage Storage Structures
Concrete stave and poured silos, including those designed to be oxygen limiting
Wooden silos
Steel/ceramic-oxygen limiting silos
Horizontal or bunk silos
Manure Storage Structures
Below floor storage pits and tanks
Sump/pump pits
Above ground manure storage tanks
Ponds, lagoons, and open pits, especially those with steep banks
Manure/bio-digesters
Agricultural Transport Vehicles
Grain transport vehicles (trucks, gravity bed wagons, auger carts)
Manure transport vehicles (tanks and applicators)
Food grade bulk transport vehicles(milk, juice, corn syrup)
Sprayer and chemical transport vehicles
Agricultural Equipment
Combine separation area
Bale chamber on hay packaging equipment Forage and silage dump wagons
Feed grinders/mixers
Feed mixer wagons
Cotton module builders
Grinder/mixer machines and tub grinders
Environmentally-controlled cabs/operator enclosures used to protect operators from toxic chemicals
Processing and Storage Equipment/Facilities Storage and mixing tanks, bins, and silos Fermentation vessels (pickling and wine vats) Environmentally controlled fruit and vegetable storage units
Bulk liquid storage tanks (milk and juice)
Other
Containment areas around diked storage tanks
Trenches and other on-farm construction/excavation sites 4 feet deep or more Culverts
Wells, cisterns, dry wells, septic tanks
Grain driers
Fuel storage tanks
Greenhouses (during certain operations such as fumigation)
Containment ponds
Risk
Possible injuries associated with confined spaces can include:
(Issa, 2015; Issa 2016)
- Entrapment within storage structures
- Entrapment is the state of being caught in a trap
- Engulfment from agricultural products
- Engulfment is the surrounding and effective capture of a person by a liquid or finely divided substance (ex. grain).
- Suffocation from lack of oxygen or toxic gases
- Drowning in confined spaces
- Entanglement within energized components within the confined space, examples such as in-floor augers, sweep augers, and stirring augers
- Respiratory distress due to toxic dust, molds, and other airborne hazards
- Fatal falls into confined spaces
- Heat stress/ exhaustion due to high temperatures within confined spaces
- Hypothermia due to extended time entrapped within temperature controlled confined spaces
Conclusion
Action has been taken to ensure first responders safety when responding to confined spaces related incidents. The Cooperative Extension Service has created and trained first responders for almost four decades. First responders in rural areas receive training on how to evacuate grain from a bin, understand how to use grain rescue tubes to protect entrapped victims. Progress continues to be made to ensure first responders knowledge and technique when facing confined space injuries.