Grain bin safety webinars
Prerecorded webinars are available to help educate farmers and other grain handlers on important grain safety issues. Taught by risk management professionals and industry experts, these webinars provide valuable insight into proper grain management, fire pre-incident planning for grain dryers, grain entrapment prevention and asset management and safety.
Grain bin safety
Recorded: February 21, 2018
This webinar, hosted by Dan Neenan, Director of the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), provides an overview on grain bin entry rules and specific safety precautions. We'll examine the use of entry permits and the equipment needed for grain bin entry, along with what to do when things go wrong.
In this 30 minute session, you'll learn about:
- Lockout / Tagout
- Age for entry
- Air quality sampling
- Harnesses and roping
- Minimum two-person entry
Grain grading: Grain quality and personal safety go hand in hand
Recorded: February 20, 2017
This webinar, co-hosted by Dr. Charles R. Hurburgh, Jr., and Dr. Gretchen A. Mosher, provides an overview of the association between high-quality grain and improved worker safety. After examining confined-space engulfment incidents from 1964 to 2010, Dr. Hurburgh found that out-of-condition grain was reported to be the primary cause for the majority of those incidents. Furthermore, handling out-of-tolerance products, corrective actions, critical storage decisions and appropriate action points have important implications for both grain quality and worker safety.
In this 40 minute session, you’ll learn how:
- Enhanced quality management can improve crop marketability
- Poor grain quality management can increase safety hazards
- To keep safety and grain quality top of mind to improve worker safety and an operation’s bottom line
Fire pre-incident planning for high-capacity, crossflow grain dryers
Recorded: February 23, 2017
This webinar, hosted by Ryan Michalek, examines the elements of a fire pre-incident plan for the most common grain dryer on commercial grain-handling facilities - the high-capacity, crossflow grain dryer.
In this 40 minute session, you’ll learn:
- Insight from claims data regarding common conditions that led to grain dryer fires
- How pre-incident planning fits into a comprehensive business continuity plan
- The importance of a fire watch individual — the most critical component to a fire pre-incident plan
- Dryer installation features that support an effective response to a grain dryer fire
- Suggested steps to follow when a grain dryer fire is suspected
- How to develop an evacuation plan and manage media demands when a grain dryer fire occurs
Stored grain management: Grain quality and the safety connection
Recorded: February 23, 2015
Length: 50 minutes
This prerecorded webinar, hosted by Dr. Carol Jones, focuses on stored grain management and examines the close relationship between grain quality and safety.
What you’ll learn:
- What causes grain to go out of condition
- What happens when grain goes out of condition
- What to look for in assessing grain condition
- How to prevent out-of-condition grain
- Importance of temperature and moisture management
- Fine and foreign material management, insects in the mix, aeration and vent space, and emergency incidents
Grain entrapment prevention
Recorded: February 24, 2015
Length: 42 minutes
This prerecorded webinar, hosted by Wayne Bauer, highlights important information about the following subjects:
- Grain bin entrapment and fatality statistics (2010-2014)
- Common causes for grain bin entrapment and the high rate of on-farm incidents
- New design parameters for safer, more efficient steel bin grain storage
- The Ag Safety & Rescue Initiative, which impacts the entire ag community, including farm families, youth, off-farm businesses and emergency responders
The presenters
Dr. Charles R. Hurburgh, Jr.
Dr. Charles R. Hurburgh, Jr. is a native Iowan from Rockwell City, IA. He continues to operate the family farm, and is a Professor of Agricultural Engineering at Iowa State University. He has BS, MS, and doctorate degrees from Iowa State, and specializes in quality management systems with related traceability, rapid measurement and sensor technologies. He is the author of more than 250 technical and general articles on grain quality, measurement science and grain marketing. Dr. Hurburgh manages the ISU Grain Quality Research Laboratory and the Extension-based Iowa Grain Quality Initiative. His near infrared analysis research program currently involves 22 makes and models of instruments.
Dr. Hurburgh serves on several advisory and editorial committees related to quality management standards and food safety regulations. His extension group was asked by the FDA to create training materials for food safety inspections of bulk grain and grain processing facilities under the Food Safety Modernization Act. He serves on the training and editorial committee for FDA in it application of the food safety modernization act to animal food facilities. Dr. Hurburgh is a Lead Trainer for the FDA Preventive Controls Qualified Individual certification program. As a member of the AACCI food safety task force, he co-authored the recent AACC publication User’s Guide to ISO 22000 Food Safety Management System for the Grain Handling, Processing, Milling, and Baking Industries.
Dr. Gretchen A. Mosher
Dr. Gretchen A. Mosher is an assistant professor in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at Iowa State University, where she holds a research and teaching appointment. Research interests include food and grain system safety in grain handling, interactions between quality management and occupational safety, and the use of data analytics in teaching and learning. Dr. Mosher teaches Total Quality Management and the Technology Capstone Design. She has published over 25 technical and research papers on quality and safety management in grain handling and serves the grain industry in a variety of capacities.
Marsha Salzwedel
Marsha Salzwedel is an Agricultural Youth Safety Specialist at the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety (part of National Farm Medicine Center) in Marshfield, WI. She is a project manager for an agritourism safety project and a voluntary youth agricultural work guidelines project, and a program manager for the Childhood Agricultural Safety Network.
Working with the Grain Handling Safety Coalition, Marsha led the development of a youth curriculum. She has given presentations and led workshops at state, regional, national and international meetings. She has a master’s degree in human & community resources from the University of Wisconsin Steven’s Point. Marsha grew up on a farm and maintains her ties with the community through the farm that she and her family still own and operate.
Ryan Michalek, PE
Ryan Michalek is a property engineer with Nationwide where he works with agribusiness members to integrate building safety features and implement property preservation programs to help better manage their risks against property loss. Over the past 5 years, Ryan has spent considerable time performing root cause analysis following property loss claims involving grain handling structures and developing corresponding risk management materials to prevent similar losses. He has authored several articles highlighting the results of this work, many of which have appeared in trade publications such as Grain Journal and Rural Builder Magazines. Prior to joining Nationwide, Ryan worked as a project structural engineer with FRK Architects, producing structural designs, plans and specifications for commercial building structures. Ryan also served 6 years in the United States Army Reserves 367th Engineers Battalion. Ryan is a graduate of Iowa State University where he studied civil-structural engineering and is a licensed professional engineer and a LEED accredited professional.
Dr. Carol Jones
Dr. Carol Jones has worked at Oklahoma State University in the Biosystems and Ag Engineering Department for 15 years and has been on faculty for 10 years. Her research and extension efforts focus on equipment and processes that help maintain grain quality, profitability and safety. Her research efforts also include post-harvest technology of several specialty crops such as tree nuts, herbs, fruits and vegetables.
Wayne Bauer
Wayne Bauer's career in the grain industry spans more than 38 years. Bauer served as GEAPS International president from 2004-2005 and is co-chair of the Michigan Food & Agricultural Protection Strategy Committee, where he works with over 175 agricultural and food-related firms in Michigan and has been an active participant since 2005. Since 2007, Bauer has served on the joint U.S. Agro-Terrorism Prevention & Facility Security Committee with representatives from GEAPS/NGFA and North American Export Grain Association.
Sid Fey
Sid Fey’s career with Nationwide spanned 39 years, before retiring in 2015. Fey had extensive experience in commercial property claims management, investigation, evaluation and resolution of catastrophic commercial agribusiness property and business income losses. During his last 8 years at Nationwide, Fey’s primarily role involved the development and management of agribusiness risk management property professionals. He developed and presented programs for employee safety, construction, preventative maintenance and asset management for clients and the agribusiness industry.