Grain storage safety training offered for young workers

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Young people on family-operated grain farms and beginning workers in the commercial grain industry can learn how to stay safe in their work by attending daylong training offered by Purdue University.

"Safe Grain Storage and Handling for Youth and Beginning Workers" will be offered Sept. 30 at Brock Manufacturing, Milford, Ind.; Oct. 2 at Beck Educational Center, West Lafayette, Ind.; and Oct. 16 at FFA Leadership Center, Trafalgar, Ind. Training will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 3 p.m.

Steve Wettschurack, a Purdue farm rescue instructor, said the goal is to provide basic awareness safety and health training needed by young people interested in pursuing employment in the commercial grain industry or who are already employed on family-operated farms with grain storage operations. He said about one in every five victims of serious accidents at grain storage and handling facilities are people under the age of 21.

"The primary cause of these tragic events has been the lack of awareness of basic hazards associated with storage and handling of grain and failure to comply with safe grain-handling practices," Wettschurack said.

Participants will learn the importance of the grain industry and career opportunities. Topics to be discussed include primary hazards associated with grain storage and handling, common ways workers become entrapped in flowing grain, basic safety practices, types of personal protective equipment, rights of workers under the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and steps to take in the event of an emergency. 

Sponsors of the training are Purdue's Agricultural Safety and Health Program, U.S. Department of Labor/OSHA Susan Hardwood Grant, Indiana Rural Safety and Health Council, Brock Manufacturing and Farm Bureau Insurance.

There is no cost to attend, but advance registration is required. Basic personal protective equipment and lunch will be provided.

Participants will receive a certificate of attendance and samples of basic personal protective equipment commonly used in the grain industry.

Farm youth working on family-operated grain farms, high school and community college students interested in a career or summer employment in agriculture or the grain industry, FFA members, and young and beginning workers in the commercial grain industry are encouraged to attend.

To register or for more information, contact Steve Wettschurack at 765-714-4557 or swettsch@purdue.edu.

Writer: Jennifer Piotrowski, 765-494-8402, jpiotrow@purdue.edu

Source: Steve Wettschurack, 765-714-4557, swettsch@purdue.edu

Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Keith Robinson, robins89@purdue.edu
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