Summary of Auger-Related Entanglement Incidents Occurring Inside Agricultural Confined Spaces

Entanglements in energized equipment, including augers found in agricultural workplaces, have historically been a significant cause of traumatic injury. Incidents involving augers located inside agricultural confined spaces (primarily grain storage structures and forage silos), although relatively rare events, are a widely recognized problem due to the relative severity of the resulting injuries and the complexities of victim extrication. However, this problem is neither well documented nor elucidated in the research literature, other than anecdotal observations relating to medical treatment of auger-related injuries and citations for non-compliance with federal and state workplace safety regulations. A review of nearly 1,650 cases documented in the Purdue Agricultural Confined Spaces Incident Database from 1964 to 2013 identified 167 incidents involving entanglement in an energized auger that occurred while the victim was working inside an agricultural confined space. These incidents primarily included in-floor unloading augers, sweep augers, stirring augers, and auger components found on silo unloaders. Cases involving portable tube augers used to handle grain outside grain storage structures were not included. Based on analysis of the data, approximately 98% of known victims were male, with the 21-45 age group reporting the largest number of incidents. Nearly one-third (32.3%) of incidents were fatal, and lower limb amputation was the most frequently reported injury type. (It is believed that non-fatal incidents are grossly under-reported in the data set due to a lack of comprehensive reporting requirements, especially for most farms, feedlots, and seed processing operations, which are generally exempt from compliance with OSHA machine guarding, confined-space, and grain-handling standards.) The type of auger identified most frequently as the agent of injury was the exposed in-floor auger (48), which frequently resulted in amputation of one or more lower limbs when the victim stepped into an unguarded opening or well in the floor of the confined space. The primary reason identified as to why workers were exposed to energized augers in the cases documented was to assist in the removal of residual or out-of-condition grain. The large number of cases involving augers on top-unloading silo unloaders (36) was not anticipated. Silo unloaders also accounted for the largest number of documented fatalities (15). This analysis is the first known attempt to provide a better understanding of the frequency, severity, and causative factors of these incidents. Those key causative factors were found to be: (1) lack of or inadequate guarding, (2) unintentional energizing of components due to a lack of lockout/tagout training and provisions, and (3) exposure of untrained or inexperienced workers to energized and unguarded components during procedures to remove residual grain or other agricultural crops from storage structures. It is hoped that the results and recommendations presented will raise awareness of the hazards related to using energized equipment in confined spaces as well as contribute to development of new evidenced-based educational resources, engineering safety standards, and workplace safety regulations.