A British Columbia farmer considers himself lucky to be alive after a grain bin aerator fan narrowly missed him when it fell down.
Walter Linder, who manages a grain farm at Creston, was working in a bin July 16 when a 1,500 pound aerator fan slowly came down as a metal safety strap appeared to give way. He managed to crawl away in time and was unhurt but badly shaken by the incident.
“I thought what would happen when I am in there and this whole thing falls down on me. I was kind of prepared,” he said.
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The B.C. workman’s compensation board agency, Work Safe BC, is still investigating the accident.
Chris Epp of Darmani Grain and Handling Systems at Fiske, Sask., said a welder was dispatched from Creston to repair the unit.
The company also provided new parts required even though the one year warranty had run out. About 300 of these units have been sold with no problems, he said.
The company asked the farm for pictures of the damage but received none so it could not determine exactly what happened. It believes one weld had not penetrated enough on a bolt on a metal safety strap and it gave way after its installation two years ago.
Ounce of prevention
When it comes to safety on the farm, it is better to check equipment twice to avoid incidents, said the manager of the Farm and Ranch Safety and Health Association in B.C., a non-profit independent farm safety organization.
B.C. farm workers are covered by workman’s compensation and even if no one is hurt, investigators could write an order against a farm to fix a problem. If the manufacturer is B.C. based, investigators may make recommendations for improvements.
Some onus for safety rests with the farmers themselves.
“We encourage them to do workplace inspections so they will look at equipment on the farm,” said Bruce Johnson, manager of the safety association.
However, some problems may be hard to detect, he said.
Work Safe B.C. reports among the top five farm accidents, 15 percent were the result of being struck by objects.
