WINNIPEG — Several air seeder manufacturers say they are re-examining the safety features of their equipment after hearing of farmers who became trapped inside the tanks.
One farmer, who has remained unidentified, contacted the Manitoba Safety Council after he spent more than an hour locked inside the tank of his airseeder this spring.
The farmer had crawled inside the tank to retrieve a bag he accidentally dropped inside, said Glen Blahey, a farm safety officer with the Manitoba government.
“A gust of wind blew the lid down and it latched,” Blahey said. The man was stuck until his wife came looking for him and heard him banging from the inside.
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Blahey said the farmer was fortunate he didn’t suffocate and that he hadn’t been using treated seed, which can give off toxic fumes.
“It’s a confined entry situation… it can be very dangerous going into those without making sure they are ventilated and there is another person present,” he said.
Farmers planning to enter a tank for whatever reason should have a rope tied to them so they can be retrieved by a second party if they are overcome by fumes, he said.
A spokesman for Morris Industries in Yorkton, Sask., which manufactured the seeder, said it was already sending free alternative latches to all registered owners of its air seeding equipment when it heard of this incident.
Brenda McLash said Morris moved to change the design of its air seeder lids after hearing of a similar incident last year. The altered latching mechanism will lock the lid in an upright position. “It just won’t slam shut,” McLash said.
Representatives of both Harmon International Industries and New Noble Services said they too would be taking a second look at their equipment design.
Ken Thomson of New Noble Services said although the lid could slam shut on his company’s equipment, it must be latched from the outside. But he said he’ll be examining whether more safety features are necessary.
“I don’t think ours would do it, but I will go take a look,” said Ken Kotowich of Harmon. The lids on his firm’s airseeders are made from heavy gauge steel. “They’re not very prone to be blown by the wind.”
