Assessment of Grain Bin Engulfment and Entrapment Incident Hazards Using Fuzzy Fault Tree Analysis

Fuzzy fault tree analysis (FTA) and insights from an expert panel were used to identify 25 key events contributing to grain bin entrapment and engulfment incidents. Critical engineering, enforcement, and education factors were identified. Improved safety protocols are recommended to address events including broken grain kernels, inadequate drying capacity, and poor maintenance.

Grain bin engulfment and entrapment incidents continue to kill and injure people on the farm and at commercial grain handling facilities. To better understand the contributing events of these incidents, fault tree analysis (FTA) was used to analyze 302 grain bin engulfment and entrapment incidents that occurred between 1988 and 2024. Expert panel opinions were also used in the analysis. To quantify expert panel insights, a method combining fuzzy set theory with expert insights was created. This approach improved the assessment of the importance rate for each contributing event. A fault tree diagram was then constructed to systematically organize the factors into basic events (BE), intermediate events (IE), and top events (TE). Twenty-five (25) minimum cut sets were identified and classified into three categories: engineering factors, enforcement factors, and education factors. Results show the most critical risk events are broken grain kernels, inadequate drying capacity, and poor maintenance of the grain bin and its associated structures. The findings from this project provide spatial visualization and insight for workers in grain bin operations, guiding grain handling personnel on high-priority improvements to overall grain bin safety and on the implementation of corrective measures for more informed decision-making.