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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
is proposing to amend its grain handling standard to ensure greater protection
to workers against engulfment and entrapment in the grain handling
industry.
"We want to strengthen protection to avert tragedies such
as the death of Charles Patrick Hayes, a 19-year-old employee who suffocated
when he was engulfed by corn," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for
Occupational Safety and Health Joseph A. Dear.
Provisions in OSHA's current standard protect employees
from hazards faced while walking on or underneath accumulations of grain within
a grain storage facility. These hazards include engulfment and entrapment in
the grain and grain handling equipment, which can result in asphyxiations,
crushing injuries and amputations.
However, it does not apply to employees entering "flat
storage buildings or tanks" unless entry is made from the top of the structure.
OSHA intended the exception to apply only to entries that did not expose the
employees to atmospheric, engulfment or entrapment hazards.
The final rule assumed that hazards from entry into flat
storage structures only arise when the entry is made from the top, because
employees would stand or walk on the stored grain. The text of the standard did
not directly address situations in which the same hazards would be encountered
during entries from lower levels. OSHA has learned that many entries take place
from levels lower than the top of the structure in facilities with dimensions
of greater diameter than height.
The tragic incident involving Charles Patrick Hayes
occurred two years ago on Oct. 22, 1993, when he and two other employees were
instructed to enter a Showell Farms, Inc., corn storage structure in De Funiak
Springs, Fla., to walk down the corn. The workers entered the structure not at
the top, but through an opening several feet above the ground.
The three men walked down the corn while an auger at the
base of the structure was running. At one point, Charles Patrick Hayes sank
into the corn up to his knees. The two other workers tried to pull him out, but
he kept sinking as the corn began to avalanche, covering him and pushing in the
direction of the auger. One co-worker left to shut off the auger while the
other continued to try to pull him from the corn. Rescue efforts were
unsuccessful, and he suffocated. No rescue equipment, observers, lock-out
procedures, or other precautions had been taken to protect the workers during
the entry.
Because the entry was not made from the top of the
structure, questions arose later over whether the Showell Farms structure was a
flat storage building as defined in the standard.
OSHA has determined that the present wording of the
standard needed to be improved in order to assure that employees such as
Charles Patrick Hayes have the protection that the standard intended to provide
during entry. Therefore, OSHA has acted to amend the standard to accord with
its original intent: to provide appropriate protection to all grain handling
employees, including those who walk on or under stored grain in flat storage
facilities.
Among other things, the revision would require the
following:
- All mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and pneumatic equipment that
could pose a danger to the employee during the entry must be deenergized and
disconnected, locked-out and tagged, blocked-off, or otherwise prevented from
operating.
- The employer must provide the employee with a body harness with
lifeline, or a boatswain's chair to prevent the employee from sinking further
than waist-deep in the grain.
- No employee is permitted to be in a location where an accumulation of
grain on the sides or elsewhere could fall and engulf the employee.
Comments and requests for hearings must be postmarked no
later than Nov. 20, 1995, and submitted in quadruplicate to the OSHA Docket
Office, Docket No. H-117-B, Room N-2625, U.S. Department of Labor, 200
Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D. C. 20210 (telephone 202-219-7894).
Comments of 10 pages or less may be faxed to the Docket
Office if followed by hard copy mailed within two days. The OSHA Docket Office
fax number is 202-219-5046.
Notice of the proposed amendments is in the Thursday, Oct.
19, 1995, Federal Register.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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