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Recent grain bin accident underscores need for more training and awareness.

Tom Bechman 1, Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

March 5, 2016

2 Min Read

Recently we reported that a grain bin entrapment claimed the life of Roger Cain, a Rush county farmer, on January 13. We also noted that more training in this area was needed, but that grant money for the training was drying up.

Right on cue, Bill Field, Purdue University Extension ag specialist, has pulled another rabbit out of a hat. The master of stretching dollars and teaming various efforts together, has set up not one but two training sessions offered for young workers in the next few weeks. The first is this week, March 10. The second is April 1. Both are being offered free of charge.

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Part of the recent federal funding that Field and his staff utilized for grain bin training was to train young workers. The exposure that young workers have to hazardous situations, including grain bin entrapments, gained awareness when young Illinois boys died inside a grain bin while working on the job just a few years ago. The tragedy did raise awareness of the need to not only make employers more aware of what they were asking younger workers to do, but to also raise the awareness of the need to train younger workers, Bill field notes.

The March 10 session is 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST, and the second is 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT. Both will be held at the Purdue University ADM Innovation Center. It is located at 698 Ahlers Drive in West Lafayette.

The free event includes lunch, a hard hat and a certificate of completion on safety training, suitable of being used on a job resume. A major goal of the class is to make young workers aware of OSHA compliance standards for working in confined spaces, which include not only grain bins, but also silos and manure storage areas.

To register, contact [email protected] or register directly at goo.gl/forms/M7EyR2C8Jm.

About the Author(s)

Tom Bechman 1

Editor, Indiana Prairie Farm

Tom Bechman is an important cog in the Farm Progress machinery. In addition to serving as editor of Indiana Prairie Farmer, Tom is nationally known for his coverage of Midwest agronomy, conservation, no-till farming, farm management, farm safety, high-tech farming and personal property tax relief. His byline appears monthly in many of the 18 state and regional farm magazines published by Farm Progress.

"I consider it my responsibility and opportunity as a farm magazine editor to supply useful information that will help today's farm families survive and thrive," the veteran editor says.

Tom graduated from Whiteland (Ind.) High School, earned his B.S. in animal science and agricultural education from Purdue University in 1975 and an M.S. in dairy nutrition two years later. He first joined the magazine as a field editor in 1981 after four years as a vocational agriculture teacher.

Tom enjoys interacting with farm families, university specialists and industry leaders, gathering and sifting through loads of information available in agriculture today. "Whenever I find a new idea or a new thought that could either improve someone's life or their income, I consider it a personal challenge to discover how to present it in the most useful form, " he says.

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