Last winter there were four fatal suffocations in grain bins on Iowa farms.
Grain bins are extremely hazardous.
Grain can cake together and form bridges over the spaces which develop as grain is removed from the bottom of the bin. Farmers attempting to break up bridged material or separate clumps have fallen through the surface and become engulfed in grain. Others have been buried after entering a bin to dislodge grain caked on the sides. The risk of suffocation increases if grain spoils because it gives off carbon dioxide, which may displace oxygen in the bin. Even if a worker is not completely buried, he or she can suffocate because of the lack of oxygen above the grain surface.