Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb declared the week of Feb. 17-23 Grain Bin Safety Week. Grain bin safety became more important and more of a reality to the Parke County area and Parke Heritage students when 2019 graduate Colten Howard lost his life in a tragic grain bin accident in November.
In an effort to educate students of the importance of grain bin safety, Parke Heritage High School agriculture teacher Lacy Romig invited Kurt Lanzone from the Parke County Extension Service to speak to her ag power, structure and technology class. Other students who are involved in the agricultural area were also invited to attend.
To begin his presentation, Lanzone showed a video, “Anatomy of an Entrapment.” This video presented a scenario of a farmer who became trapped in a grain bin and the right and wrong ways to deal with this situation. One of the main messages was to have an emergency plan of which calling 911 is the first step. The theme throughout the video was, “Stop, Think and Live.”
Other safety messages were to always have another person present and do not enter the grain bin unless you have all equipment locked and tagged. Also, safety harnesses are available for someone who needs to enter a grain bin. These harnesses are around $200 in cost and can save a life if someone would need to enter a grain bin.
Jason Games of the Bellmore Fire Department, with the assistance of three students, demonstrated the grain rescue tube that fire departments use to free a person who has been trapped in a grain bin.
“We don’t ever want to use this tube,” Games said. “We want to teach safety so that no accidents ever happen.”
All the fire departments in the county have grain bin rescue tubes thanks to funding from Farm Bureau and the local FFA chapters. Lanzone stated that one of his goals is to work with all the farmers in the county to create emergency plans which would provide important information to personnel in the event of a farm accident or emergency.
As a part of Grain Bin Safety Week, Colten Howard’s mother, Anita, has created a video which she has put on her Facebook page to promote being safe around grain bins. She has also worked with TV stations to promote her message of grain bin safety.
To watch the video prepared by the Indy Channel, Channel 6, visit https://www.theindychannel.com.
