As further follow-on to my previous post, I wanted to look at a specific subset of Grain Entrapment and Engulfment cases. As I mentioned, I don’t think industrial vibrators and/or timed knockers are the silver bullet for preventing all cases. However, I do think they can be effective for preventing bin or hopper entry in a significant amount of cases. The question is: how many?
Since our vibrators and knockers are most often applied to open or hopper bottom bins and hoppers, I wanted to look there first. Once again, I need to give a big thank you to NPR’s work on this topic to make mining the data easy. I knew that their Buried in Grain coverage was documenting all cases at regulated facilities. Upon turning my search to their work, I also found that I could download the entire data set of 178 cases to Excel. A quick search of the narrative of all cases for the words “hopper” and “bottom dump” yielded that 16 of 178 cases (9%) were caused by entry into a hopper bottom to help material flow in truck trailers, railcars or stationary hopper bottom bins.
Some of the cases:
“Employee #1, age 17, climbed on top of a rail car of corn after he had opened its bottom hopper to unload the grain. He was found about one hour later with his legs hanging from the bottom of the hopper. Employee #1 had fallen into the rail car and suffocated.”
“Employee #1, 14 years old, was working in a bean hopper and was pulled into the beans while they were being drawn out the bottom of the hopper. He suffocated to death.”
“EMPLOYEE #1 ENTERED A HOPPER-BOTTOMED GRAIN BIN FROM A SIDE OPENING TO SWEEP THE REMAINNG GRAIN THROUGH THE DRAW-OFF OPENING AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BIN. AFTER EMPLOYEE #1 ENTERED THE BIN, HE WAS COVERED BY FLOWING GRAIN AND SUBSEQUENTLY SUFFOCATED.”
If you are following this topic like I am, I encourage you to also download this data and see what you can find.
Craig Macklin joined The Cleveland Vibrator Company in 2010. Although his prior experience is mired in the world of theoretical, intangible products and services such as software and consulting sales, the past 11 years have developed his passion for this industry and molded the vibration expert we know today. Now, as President and CEO, Craig has a deep understanding of the value and importance of industrial vibration to numerous industries and applications. He enjoys fine, locally roasted espresso, good food, and spending the day with his wife and two daughters. He has cried at multiple Browns and Indians games and likes to get outside and golf in his free time.
What’s his area of expertise, you ask? “Making sure the people on our team are better and smarter than I am.” – Craig Macklin
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