The following are highlight from the 2022 findings:
• No fewer than 83 cases, 24 fatal and 59 non-fatal,1 involving agricultural confined spaces were documented in 2022, representing a 40.7% increase over the 59 cases in 2021
• There were no fewer than 42 grain related entrapments in 2022 representing a 44.8% increase over 2021. This was the highest number of grain entrapments in over a decade. The balance of 41 cases involved livestock waste handling facilities, entanglements inside confined spaces, falls from confined space structures, and grain dust explosions or fires
• Eight incidents involved more than one victim
• Eleven cases involved livestock waste storage pits or lagoons, eight of which were fatal
• Three grain dust explosions resulting in 18 non-fatal injuries were documented2. Fifteen of these injuries were attributed to a single incident in Iowa.
• One female case was documented in 2022, which occurred inside a cotton module builder
• 29% (24) of 2022 cases were fatal compared to 59% historically
• Iowa reported the most cases, 24, including those relating to fires and explosions (fifteen of these cases resulted from a single explosion incident), followed by Indiana (6), Minnesota (6) and Ohio (6)
• Iowa reported the most grain-entrapment cases in 2022 (9). Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota and Illinois, in that order, have historically recorded the most grain entrapment cases
• OSHA Regions 5 and 7 have historically accounted for 67.9% of all documented agricultural confined space-related incidents
To read this complete report see the link below:
2022 Summary of US Ag Confined Space 5-30-232022 Summary of US Ag Confined Space 5-30-23