Bunker Silo Safety Reminder from the OSHA Work Group

As preparations begin for another fall harvest, it is important to review safety protocols with your farm team before harvest begins.

Last spring, PRO-DAIRY and the OSHA Work Group sent an alert highlighting the importance of adequate sleep during these high paced operations. Unfortunately, low milk prices are pressing many farms to cut costs where they can. The harvest crew should be properly sized to do a good job safely. It may be tempting to work a smaller crew for longer hours, but this is not a good money saver if it increases the risk of accident or injury. Please be safe and make sure all members of the farm crew are well trained AND that everyone gets enough rest. An incident or injury can cost much more than any savings realized by cutting corners in this area.

A sample list of items to review for harvest preparation and in safety meetings includes:

• Farm specific safety concerns and other issues, including narrow roads, soft shoulders, main highways, traffic, spilling silage or tracking mud on roads, etc.
• Rules of the road, including safe speed, specified routes and alternatives to reduce neighbor irritation. Beware of complacency. The 22th time at the same stop sign can get boring, but the stop sign must still be observed!
• Get a good night’s sleep. Tired operators are more likely to make mistakes. According to research, almost everyone is hard wired to need 8 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Any less sleep than this, especially night after night, will result in impaired function and significantly reduced reaction time.
• Carry water and snacks/stay hydrated. Take breaks periodically.
•  Stay in communication. Let others know of hazards when they are observed.
• Stay in trucks or equipment when waiting. If personnel must exit, radio other operators.
• If personnel are on the ground, they should never walk out in front of or behind any machine or truck without first making eye contact with the operator.
• No extra riders unless in training.
• Make sure lighting is adequate for all work performed after sunset.
•  Use an escort vehicle to reduce risk when moving poorly marked or lighted equipment at dusk. This time is especially dangerous.
• Make sure all tractors and machinery that travel less than 25 mph on public roads have a properly mounted SMV (Slow Moving Vehicle) emblem. SMV emblems need to be clean and not faded, must be mounted in the center or the rear of the machine (or as close to the center as possible), and be 2’ to 6’ above the road surface.
• Completely shut down machinery when clearing debris!!! It is not enough to disengage the power supply!!!
• Make sure that staff use the proper personal protective equipment, such as hearing protection in noisy areas.

Pre harvest:

• Check over trucks and equipment. Ensure that tires are at proper inflation and change excessively worn tires. Check that lights all function and recheck each day before work starts. Trucks need to be equipped with fire extinguishers and safety triangles or flares.
• Provide fire extinguishers on larger tractors and self-propelled harvesters.
• Make sure road safety features meet the legal minimum.
• Check field entry routes for wash outs and culvert problems.
• Mark driveways with flags so that drivers do not have to guess where the edge is.
• Check common routes for road crew activity or other new issues.
• Consider providing hi-visibility clothing or vests to staff to help prevent run over incidents.
• Each day remind drivers, packers and chopper operators to be safe, use safety belts and take no unnecessary risks.

Filling:

• If new silage is being added to old silage, mark where the two materials are joined. The joint areas can be very unstable during silage removal and can collapse without warning because the silage will not be interlocked at this point. Extra caution is warranted with any activity in these areas.
• Avoid putting new silage over the top of existing piles covered with plastic. Major slippage of the top pile can occur during silage removal.
• Pile height should not exceed the reach of the unloading equipment. Filling staff should be told the target pile height.
• Packing tractor(s) should be ROPS equipped and operators should be belted in.
• Rollover hazard is obvious. Side slope steepness is an important safety concern. There are many factors that influence safe operating gradient. Minimize exterior side slopes as much as practical. Beware of soft spots. Safest packing is achieved when driving up and down the pile. Some references suggest no more than a 3:1 slope for this type of operation. As your farm changes, please consider how to size and organize bunker silos so that pile height and slope allow packing equipment to drive safely over all sections of the pile.
• Only the most experienced equipment operators should pack. Provide new packing operators with proper training.
• When using hydraulic dump bodies, do not back up onto the pile to dump due to tip-over hazard.
• Inform all staff that only authorized personnel should be in the silo filling area. Extra people should be kept out. Make sure appropriate signage such as “No Unauthorized Personnel” and “Danger” is posted visibly.

Covering crew:

• Conduct safety meeting before going up onto the piles.
  Designate those that will work near the edge. All others stay away!
• Make sure workers are not wearing slick surface shoes.
  Remind workers to watch out for each other and no horseplay on top.

NYS OSHA Work Group:

• PRO-DAIRY
• Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA)
• New York Farm Bureau
• NY Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH)
• Cornell Cooperative Extension

Julie Berry, Editor | Tom Overton, Director | Facebook