A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 14, 1991
Manure Storage Study Finds Farmers Risk Safety
(Continued from Page A 1) 'WJPP
aid of the Ag Advistory Commit
tee to the Department of Environ
mental Resources (DER), the SCS
compiled a list of 12S farms. SCS
engineers, along with representa
tives of the conservation districts,
interviewed a total of 99 farm man
agers about the installation, use,
and management of the facilities.
If used as a report card for the
integrity of manure storage con
struction, the 99 farms passed the
test Only a few had minor prob
7 think the most striking thing to
me was that over a third of the oper
ators admitted to going down into a
pit without protection . And if a third
of them admitted it, probably half of
them have done it That’s a real
concern *
lems with the structure or design
integrity.
But on the safety factors, farm
ers at best scored a “F” failing
to make the grade and, in many
cases, literally threatening their
lives and the lives of those who
work on their farm.
Warrant investigation
Safety and management prac
tices together had flaws serious
enough to warrant investigation.
(See “A Sad List of Failures,”
Robert Thompson, ag engineer with the Lebanon SCS
offices, compiled data on surveys undertaken on 99 Pen
nsylvania farms and recently published in "Pennsylvania
Manure Storage Study.” There were serious flaws in safety
and management practices on many of the farms, accord
ing to the report.
A Sad List
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
—The Pennsylvania Manure Stor
age Study, released in October this
year, revealed some surprising evi
dence farmers do not take
enough time ensuring that the
manure storage structures and their
operations are safe.
Some of the findings:
• 49 percent had inadequate or
no safety fences to keep children or
other people away.
• 51 percent had no safety gate
or slop to prevent a tractor from
falling over the push-off lip and
into the storage. None had a depth
staff or marker to indicate depth of
fill.
• 36 percent of farms, that had
reception pits had people in the pits
at least once without breathing
apparatus.
which accompanies this article.)
The experts interviewed by
Lancaster Fanning all agreed on
one major factor the farmer’s
failture to protect himself with a
self-contained breathing apparatus
(SCBA).
“I think the most striking thing
to me was that over a third of the
operators admitted to going down
intoapit without protection,” said
William J. Bowers, state conserva
tion engineer. “And if a third of
them admitted it, probably half of
them have done it. That’s a real
concern.”
Many farmers, because they are
too busy during planting season,
are pressed for time and don’t take
the necessary steps to ensure they
protect themselves from the many
dangerous and lethal gases con
tained in a manure structure.
Hurrying
Because of time and priority
implications, farmers are “hurry
ing to get the work done,” accord-
Of Failures
• 34 percent were routinely
filled above design depth.
• 22 percent had overtopped at
least once.
• 33 percent with outside lots
did not control barnyard runoff.
•51 percent had never taken a
nutrient sample of their manure.
In addition, many of the facili
ties were located close within
100 feet—of a water source. Nine
of the farms had a facility within
50 feet. “This means that proper
maintenance is essential,” accord
ing to William J. Bowers, state
conservation engineer.
Penn State is working on deve
loping signs dial warn of the gases
or the manure pit itself. But far
mers must carefully evaluate Safe
ty and maintenance procedures
with the facilities.
Frank Goodlander, Lewlsberry, served on the Ag Advisory Committee to oversee
the manure structure study. Farmers must take time to look Into safety considerations
of the manure structures, according to Goodlander.
ing to Robert J. Thompson, agri- gates and keep them adequately
cultural engineer with the Lebanon maintained, many fanners who
7 really don’t think you can be too
busy to make a safe situation
SCS office. In that county alone,
about three farms provided data for
the survey that went into the
report.
Thompson said farmers must
take time to look at their existing
systems to make sure safety factors
are in place. “I really don’t think
you can be too busy to make a safe
situation,” he said.
Thompson recalled the time that
a Newmanstown dairy farmer, was
busy scraping manure from a
bunker area into a manure pit The
farmer and the tractor ended up in
the pit, and the farmer drowned as
a result.
If farmers would-install safety
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Fanners should take care
ful steps to ensure their safety
when working near manure stor
age facilities.
Penn State extension safety spe
cialists and SCS engineers work
ing with the Pennsylvania Agricul
tural Safety Council recommend
farmers do the following:
O'
• Never enter a pit without
proper ventilation. When going in,
wear a self-contained breathing
apparatus, as well as a safety har
ness attached to a rope attended by
two people at the entrance to the
pit. Attaching the safety rope to a
winch or hoist is also recom
mended. Cdrtridge-type masks
are not safe.
• Keep people and animals out
of any building where manure is
being agitated or emptied. Provide
strong mechanical ventilation dur
ing agitation and pumping and for
a few hours after pumping has
stopped. If an animal collapses
during pit agitation, do not try to
rescue it immediately. Turn off the
pump and ventilate the building
until the gases have had a chance to
escape.
• Never fill a manure pit com
pletely, but allow 1 to 2 feet of airs
pace to accommodate concentra
tions of gas. Lower the level of liq
uid manure in a storage facility
before starting agitation to reduce
the possibility of gas being forced
above floor level.
died as a result of drowning in
manure storage ponds or lagoons
“might be alive today,” said
Thompson.
Thompson said that two farmers
interviewed in the study admitted
that tractors have fallen into man
ure storage pits. “It’s amazing
more farmers don’t die with acci
dents like that.”
“We really feel that, in order to
have a safer facility, there ought to
be fencing around it to keep ani
mals out and to keep people from
accidentally going into it, and
warning signs as well,” he said.
Stay
Safe, Stay Alive
• Keep the agitator below the
liquid surface, because gas is
released in greater volumes with
vigorous surface agitation.
• Forbid smoking, open flames,
or spark-producing operations in
the immediate vicinity of the stor
age area.
• Keep all guards and safety
shields in place on pumps, pump
hoppers, tank wagons, and power
units, and maintain electrical
motors, fixtures, and wiring in
good condition.
• Do not leave temporary
access ladders leaning against
above-ground tanks. Permanent
ladders on the outside of above
ground tanks should terminate
above the reach of people or
should have locked entry guards.
• Do not walk, ride, or allow
animals on the crust-like surface
of open-air storages. Like ice, the
crust is not uniformly solid and can
break through suddenly.
• Warn visitors and guests of the
hazards of manwre'storages. You
arc legally responsible for their
safety while they arc on your
property.
Manure storage facility warning
signs are available from equipment
suppliers or from the Pennsylvania
Agricultural Safety Council, 204
Agricultural Engineering Build
ing, University Park, PA 16802.
Emergency Procedures
Emergencies result from ignor
ing or not knowing the hazards of
Tractors fallen
On a farm in north lowa in 1983,
a fanner and two sons were killed
when a pump agitator clearing out
a manure pit suddenly stopped.
One son went down into the pit to
try to unclog it and was over
come by fumes. One by one, each
tried to rescue the other, but none
wore safety equipment to prevent
them from being suffocated by the
fumes.
Farmers can be quickly over
come and killed by gases such as
highly toxic hydrogen sulfide
(which killed members of the lowa
farm family), carbon dioxide, car
bon monoxide, ammonia, and
other gases.
Utmost concern
“Safety should be of utmost
concern. It needs to be considered
more when we’re putting manure
storages in,” said Thompson.
(Turn to Page A3B)
manure storages and the recom
mended safety practices. General
ly, someone enters a pit without a
self-contained breathing apparatus
and passes out almost immediately
from toxic gases or oxygen defi
ciency. The tragedy is often com
pounded when would-be rescuers
family, coworkers, or emergen
cy personnel panic and follow
the first victim into the pit.
When someone collapses in a
pit, gases are so concentrated that
it is suicidal for anyone else to
enter without a self-contained bre
athing apparatus. The only reason
able immediate action is to venti
late the storage area and notify
rescue personnel who can bring
the proper equipment. Bam fans
and silo blowers may be activated
to provide ventilation, but do not
lower fans into the pit because of
the possibility of a methane
explosion.
In any rescue attempt, the
rescuer should have a self
contained breathing apparatus and
a safety harness with a lifeline. The
lifeline should be attended by at
least two people outside the stor
age unit Rescuers should never
place their own masks on a victim
or remove their own lifelines.
Ropes, carriers, and oxvgen for
victims can be lowered into the pit
if necessary. Victims should be
brought out as quickly as possible,
administered 100 percent medical
oxygen, and transported to an
emergency room.