A tragic fatal farm accident near Burstall, Sask. underscores the dangers of working with grain, particularly during the busy and stressful harvest season.
Sixty-three-year old Dennis Becker and his 14-year-old grandson Layne Langridge died last week while emptying a dual hopper semi-trailer of grain on a farm about 16 kilometres east of Burstall at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 31.
RCMP would provide no further details.
However, sources said it appeared one of the two people fell into the semi and the other tried to save him.
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Glen Blahey, agricultural safety and health specialist with the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association, said the number of incidents involving grain is rising.
“Grain engulfments are increasing in frequency right across North America and part of that is due to the fact that the size of grain storage facilities are increasing and most producers don’t recognize the hazards associated with moving grain,” he said.
The problem with grain is it is a solid that behaves as a liquid once it starts to move, Blahey said. The larger the bin, the more the grain will move.
No one should ever walk on the surface of grain unless the person is wearing a harness and lifeline and someone else is monitoring the situation.
People die in bins when grain walls fall on them or they become entangled in bin sweeps. They also suffocate in grain bags when they don’t use unloaders properly and the bags collapse.
Blahey noted that it takes a 10-inch auger five to seven seconds to move six feet worth of grain.
“That is the equivalent volume of a human body,” he said.
“If I’m standing on the surface of the grain in the bin or on the truck and the chute is opened up, in five to seven seconds I will no longer be on the surface of that grain.”
If someone falls into a semi-trailer, the first thing to do is close the bottom door. Then, try to extricate the person from the top but only by following proper procedure.
Blahey said if someone is stuck up to the shoulders in grain and people start walking around the person they will pack the grain more tightly and cause suffocation.
They also shouldn’t try to pull the person out. Pulling an adult out would require about 800 pounds of force, he said.
Instead, try to build a wall around the stuck person using plywood, boards or a strong plastic barrel with both ends cut out.
“Then you start scooping that grain out and as you keep scooping the grain out you keep pressing that barrel down,” he said.
Once the person is clear to the knees he should be able to start working himself out.
Blahey said this isn’t always so easy; people don’t just fall through grain standing up.
And in even a few inches of grain people can’t tell which is up or down and won’t be able to get themselves out.
He reminded farmers to take five minutes at the start of a day to review what they plan to do and what they might encounter.
Shutting down equipment before servicing it, stopping machines completely before changing drivers, and watching for overhead power lines, other vehicles on roads and road conditions are all common sense.
Harvest can be an exhausting time of year and studies comparing exhaustion to intoxication show that being awake for 17 to 19 hours is the equivalent of a blood alcohol level of .05. After 21 hours, the equivalent is .08.
With less help available on some farms farmers might be staying awake longer than they should be.
Contact karen.briere@producer.com
