|
 Printer-Friendly Version
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-8151
The death of a young man in a corn storage structure in
Florida has prompted the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
to revise its standard for protecting almost 250,000 workers at 24,000 grain
elevators and mills.
OSHA today issued a final rule revising the standard to
ensure greater protection for workers against hazards of being engulfed by
grain or being entrapped when mechanical equipment is used to move the grain.
The rule revision was set in motion following the death of
19-year-old Patrick Hayes, who was walking across the structure filled with
grain when he was pulled down into the grain and suffocated.
Hayes' father, Ron, of Fairhope, Ala. met with Secretary
of Labor Robert B. Reich and Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational
Safety and Health Joseph A. Dear last October.
Secretary Reich said today, "The tragic death of this
young man and his father's untiring efforts to make sense out of that senseless
death led to what we are doing today. We hope that these changes will avert
such tragedies in the future."
Ron Hayes not only spent considerable time trying to
determine the cause of the accident, but quit his job to become a tireless
advocate of workplace safety. He organized a nonprofit organization called
FIGHT (Families in Grief Hold Together) to provide guidance to families who
have lost a loved one in a workplace accident.
Dear said today, "The OSHA investigation of Patrick Hayes'
death revealed the need to clarify the original intent of the grain handling
standard. These changes provide that clarification."
Among other things, the revised standard specifically
prohibits the practice of "walking down" grain to make it flow within or out
from a grain storage structure. OSHA noted that this is an extremely dangerous
practice that exposes an employee to an ever-increasing risk of engulfment as
grain is eroded from underneath the surface layer.
The revised standard requires a harness with a lifeline or
a boatswain's chair to provide protection whenever an employee walks or stands
on grain at a depth that poses an engulfment hazard. If this is not feasible,
the employer is to provide an alternative means to prevent the employee from
sinking further than waist-deep in the grain.
The tragic incident involving Patrick Hayes occurred 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 facility 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, 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.
Provisions in OSHA's grain-handling standard had protected
employees from hazards while walking on or underneath accumulations of grain
within a grain storage facility.
However, it did 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 standard had assumed that hazards from entry into flat
storage structures only arise when the entry is made from the top, because
employees who enter in that manner would do so in order to 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.
In the seven years since the original standard was issued, OSHA has learned
that many entries take place from such levels lower than the top of the
structure in facilities with dimensions of greater diameter than height.
In the Hayes incident, because entry was not made from the
top of the structure, questions arose later whether the Showell farms structure
was a flat storage building as defined in the original standard.
The revision will provide employees entering flat storage
facilities with protection against entrapment, engulfment and mechanical
hazards, regardless of their point of entry.
The definition of a "flat storage structure" also was
clarified. It is defined as a grain storage building or structure that will not
empty completely by gravity, has an unrestricted ground level opening for
entry, and must be entered to reclaim the residual grain, using powered
equipment or manual means.
The revised standard also requires that all mechanical,
electrical, and pneumatic equipment that presents a danger to employees inside
grain storage structures shall be deenergized and disconnected, locked-out and
tagged, blocked-off, or otherwise stopped by other equally effective means or
methods.
The final rule is published in the Friday, March 8, 1996
Federal Register and becomes effective April 8, 1996.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
| 
