Traditionally, most in Pennsylvania probably think about construction sites and industrial settings as being the places work accidents most often occur. The reality however, is that work accidents can occur while doing virtually any job. Included in this are agricultural jobs.

Farm jobs generally encompass a variety of tasks. By far, those involving grain silos are some of the most dangerous. In addition to toxic air and the risk of fires, accidents resulting in suffocation can occur. While overall, the occurrence of farm accidents is down, those involving silos continue to hold steady. In the worst cases these can result in death. Sadly, it is often teenage boys who are assigned these jobs.

The Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has provided a series of steps that if followed, should help reduce the number of these accidents that occur. These guidelines include:

• Making sure all loaders, augers and other power equipment are off before anyone goes into the silo.
• Providing either a support chair or safety harness for the individuals who is entering the silo.
• Making sure there is another person observing the operation to make sure the person working inside the silo is safe.
• Ensuring that any bin entered does not have grain built up either on the sides or overhead.
• Regular testing of the air to make sure there is not any toxic or combustible gas.

According to some safety experts, owners of grain elevators could help prevent these accidents by spending less than $1,000 per each silo. That is how much they estimate it costs to install a pulley system and safety harness and provide boards that could be used to keep a worker who is trapped separated from the grain. The other recommendations do not cost anything additional.

Because only the commercial grain-elevators can be held responsible for safety violations, owners of small farms do not face the same consequences. This is the same when it comes to workers' compensation benefits.

Source: New York Times, "Silos Loom as Death Traps on American Farms," John M. Broder, Oct. 28, 2012

• Our firm handles similar situations to the one discussed in this post. If you would like to learn more about our practice, please visit our Pennsylvania workplace injuries page.