Farm Owner and Son Asphyxiated in Manure Waste Pit–Minnesota

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program
• Description:
  After entering one of a pair of adjacent 8-foot-deep manure waste pits connected by a tunnel, a 43-year-old dairy farm owner and his 23 year old son died from asphyxiation. On the day of the accident, the owner apparently entered the pit when the manure from the second pit failed to flow through the tunnel. The owner removed the steel grate covering the entrance of the pit and placed an aluminum ladder into the pit, descended the ladder and walked a short distance to the tunnel. As he bent over to clear the tunnel, he was overcome and collapsed. His son appeared to have entered the pit to rescue his father, when he, too, was overcome. The son was found later lying over the first victim. They were found dead of asphyxiation several hours later. It was recommended that manure pits be identified as confined spaces and that hazard warning signs be posted at all entrances. It was also recommended that farm employees be instructed never to enter the manure waste system unless absolutely necessary and then only when following a safe entry procedure. Manure waste systems should be installed in such a manner that the need for entry is eliminated. Manure waste systems should be equipped with some type of power ventilation system.
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Animal Husbandry Animals Confined Spaces Occupational Health Oxygen Safety Waste Management
• Keywords:
  Agricultural-industry Animal-husbandry Confined-spaces FACE-92-29 OSHA Region 5 Oxygen-deficient-atmospheres Waste-disposal-systems
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture ; Confined Space
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  NIOSH (In-House)
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFACE9229
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00214123
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB93-214096
• Citation:
  Morgantown, : U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1993
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1992/08/11
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1dfdafa52262f6da013aefc59bff4cd386e12436b457b5018727de7e712f95a355b4147140270f28b94d62feccd1c49548f0e8cb11b395e6373a2c9216755760
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167510/cdc_167510_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 329.11 KB ]