UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The May 2 death of a 68-year-old Cumberland County farmer who succumbed to toxic gases while working in a silo underscores the dangers associated with agriculture, which is one of the most hazardous occupations in the United States.
In 2020, 39 people were killed in farm-related incidents in Pennsylvania — an increase from previous years. These agricultural emergencies require specialized knowledge and training for first responders, according to Penn State farm safety specialists.
To prepare emergency responders, Penn State Extension, via its Agricultural Safety and Health Program, offers numerous trainings and demonstrations designed for fire and rescue services, emergency medical services, law enforcement personnel, and farm community members.
“These trainings could mean the difference between life and death in a farm emergency,” said Judd Michael, Nationwide Insurance Professor of Safety and Health and professor of agricultural and biological engineering in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.
Penn State’s Ag Safety and Health team has scheduled several grain bin rescue awareness training programs for 2022, including a summer course for Catawissa, Benton and Mifflinville responders and a course in Columbia County in late October. The six-hour program will teach emergency responders about hazards associated with grain handling and storage.
The workshop will cover best practices for rescuer safety and explore strategies for managing a grain entrapment or engulfment incident. To gain hands-on experience, participants will use a grain rescue tube in Penn State’s grain entrapment simulation trailer.
Topics covered by previous workshops this year included both grain bin rescue awareness and grain bin rescue operations — a 20-hour program that builds upon the awareness course and is designed for first responders at a grain entrapment or engulfment emergency. Participants learn how to safely access an entrapped person and strategies to treat, free and package the person for a safe and efficient extrication from the grain bin.
Other training programs available to first responders include:
— Introduction to agricultural emergencies.
— Managing tractor and machinery emergencies.
— Silo fire awareness.
— Silo fire operations.
— Large animal rescue training.
These programs can be customized and offered on request, Michael said. First-responder organizations throughout Pennsylvania interested in a program can submit a request to the Ag Safety and Health Program to bring the training to their county. Classes may be scheduled individually or through a county task force. The Ag Safety team can provide more information about fees and availability.
In addition, the Ag Safety and Health program offers numerous farm safety demonstrations that can be reserved or borrowed by contacting the program through email or by phone. One demonstration illustrates how grain flows in storage structures and the rescue procedures that can free a victim entrapped in flowing grain.
Another demonstration, the “Mini-Tilt Table,” educates participants about rollover incidents by displaying the center of gravity and the stability baseline of a tractor, skid steer loader and all-terrain vehicle. For a younger audience aged eight to 16, “Mr. Egg” demonstrates a tractor’s center of gravity and stability baseline.
Events scheduled for 2022, such as Ag Safety Day and a 4-H animal science camp, will utilize demonstrations to raise awareness about farm safety among children, who are a crucial audience. In 2020, nearly 26% of Pennsylvania farm fatalities were children ages 19 and younger.
“We need to do more training and more demonstrations to keep people — especially kids — safe on farms,” Michael said. Penn State Extension’s Agricultural Safety and Health team also offers youth safety education via its National Safe Tractor and Machinery Operation program.
More information and resources, including articles, videos and courses, are available on the Penn State Extension website at https://extension.psu.edu/
–Chuck Gill, Penn State University
