Farmer Asphyxiated Due to Lack of Oxygen After Entering an Oxygen Limiting Silo 3 Days After Filling

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  On October 8, 2002, a 46-year-old male dairy farmer entered a 90-foot tall oxygen-limiting silo to adjust some lines for the air bladder system. Three days earlier, he had filled the silo (Photo 1) with high moisture shelled corn. Upon filling, he climbed to the top of the silo and discovered that corn covered the lines. He waited for three days to allow the corn to settle before attempting to retrieve the lines. He and a coworker climbed the fixed ladder to the top of the silo and opened the hatch. The victim hung a rope with knots to climb down into the silo, approximately 8-10 feet. The victim entered the silo ; the coworker remained outside of the silo. No odor was present upon opening the silo hatch. "Silo gas" may not exhibit any detectable odor. The blower was not running. The victim entered the silo and cried out for help. The coworker reached for the victim's wrist but could not pull him out. The coworker called the victim's wife for help. The wife sent another family member to assist and also called for emergency assistance. The coworker and family member remained outside of the silo waiting for emergency assistance. Emergency assistance arrived and extricated the victim from the silo. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
• Content Notes:
  Publication Date provided by FACE program ; not printed on the report.
• Subjects:
  • Accident Prevention
  • Accidents
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Agriculture
  • Confined Spaces
  • Farmers
  • Occupational Exposure
  • Occupational Health
  • Occupational Injuries
  • Safety
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Accident-analysis
  • Accident-potential
  • Accident-prevention
  • Accidents
  • Injuries
  • Injury-prevention
  • Safety-education
  • Safety-equipment
  • Safety-practices
  • Safety-measures
  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE02MI143
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  16 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026808
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2008-102533
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 02MI143, 2003 Sep ; :1-15
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2002/09/01
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Resource Number:
  FACE-02MI143
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169171/cdc_169171_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 477.21 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:38ac27cabc1cb2dc139051ce62d31c1b1c3c615679a54c66618d8dfafeeaa5009c1b2a7df68232619b9d88551d0877edb87dcfe8db7f404ef66adacc83b097b8