Nationwide

Grain Bin Rescue: How Does it Feel to Save Someone's Life?

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 04:47:20 GMT

“All I could see was his head.": Minnesota Farmer Reflects on Grain Bin Rescue

Grain Bin Rescue: How Does it Feel to Save Someone’s Life?

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Shut Down a Grain Dryer in 3 Steps

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 04:47:20 GMT

Preventing and preparing for grain dryer fires

The devastating results of fire can include death, serious injury, financial loss, property damage, business interruption and production downtime.

Grain dryer fires are one of the most significant risks a grain handling operation can face. The devastating results of fire can include death, serious injury, financial loss, property damage, business interruption and production downtime.

Take a proactive approach to grain dryer fire management by developing a pre-incident fire plan. These plans can help decrease fire severity by addressing common causes, reduce damages with early fire detection, detail proper response techniques for extinguishing and explain how to continue operating with key assets impaired after a loss.

Our loss history indicates that grain dryer fires commonly occur in continuous-feed crossflow grain dryers and the information presented here has been tailored to address fires in this type of dryer. Additionally, our loss history has shown that soybeans and sorghum are more frequently involved in grain dryer fires than other types of grain commodities.

Pre-incident fire plans should be used to supplement your grain dryer manufacturer’s operating manual along with input from your local fire department. Invite the fire department to survey your facilities and incorporate their suggestions into your pre-incident fire plan.

While pre-incident fire plans are a good risk management practice, they should not be construed as a guarantee that catastrophic loss will not occur. There are no guarantees of the successful extinguishing of every type of grain dryer fire.

Fire watch
A fire watch is critical to an effective pre-incident fire plan. Continual observation is used to identify initial signs of fire or abnormal operation.

Since grain dryers are seldom outfitted with fire suppression systems, early fire detection can help decrease the severity of damage and increase the likelihood of successful extinguishing.

A continuous fire watch should occur whenever the grain dryer is in operation and at least 30 minutes after equipment shutdown as some fires start shortly after equipment is turned off.

The fire watchperson should be familiar with the grain dryer operation and be able to identify indications of smoke or fire by sight or scent alone. They should also be able to recognize abnormal operating conditions, such as excessive grain trash accumulation or a plugged grain column.

For example, the fire watchperson should be able to distinguish a smoky odor from normal operational odors and be able to discern a plume of smoke from steam at night when lighting is poor. Consider installing exterior flood lighting to illuminate the grain dryer and help improve the fire watchperson’s visibility during nighttime operations.

Additionally, the fire watchperson should know how to de-energize the grain dryer and shut off fuel supplies if a fire is suspected.

Fire department protocol
Your pre-incident fire plan should detail protocols for contacting the fire department – immediately upon suspicion of fire or after site personnel have investigated and confirmed the need for assistance. This decision is based on your organization’s unique risk tolerance.

Shutting down the grain dryer
If the fire watchperson suspects a fire, they should shut down the grain operation immediately by:

Stopping grain flow in and out of the dryer
Turning off all electricity serving the dryer
Shutting off the dryer’s fuel supply

The grain dryer should have two fuel supply disconnects – One near the dryer or dryer controls and another disconnect some distance away. This helps enable site personnel to disconnect the fuel supply during a severe fire that prevents them from safely accessing the disconnects near the dryer.

Locating a fire
Upon suspicion of fire, the fire watchperson should retrieve a fire extinguisher and investigate whether the fire is in the plenum space, near the burner or within a grain column.

At least one pair of 10 lb. ABC fire extinguishers should be kept near the dryer or dryer controls, as well as a high-lumen flashlight to investigate nighttime fires or fires in the plenum space.

Common locations of grain dryer fires include the:

Grain column turning mechanisms
Transition between wet garner bin and vertical grain columns
Horizontal surfaces at the transition from the burner section to the heating section

Your pre-incident fire plan should identify a responsible individual to evacuate customers and unnecessary personnel from the facility in the event of a grain dryer fire.

Extinguishing flames in the plenum space or burner area
Fires in the plenum space or near the burner can generally be extinguished with water. When the fire is located, assess whether site personnel can safely put out the fire with water or an extinguisher. If personnel cannot gain safe access or are unsuccessful in extinguishment, contact the fire department if they were not already summoned based on your organization’s protocol.

Personnel must be mindful that opening man doors to inspect or extinguish these types of fires may re-introduce oxygen into the plenum space and result in a flash fire. The risk of a flash fire increases as time passes, so early detection and identification is key.

Flushing grain columns for extinguishment
Grain column fires are typically extinguished by ‘flushing’ the column with wet grain. To do so, resume feeding the grain dryer with wet grain, but leave fans, reclaim conveyors and legs de-energized and the fuel supply shut off. Open the grain column dump gates at the base of the affected and adjacent columns and flush the columns with wet grain. Do not allow the grain columns to empty and add oxygen to the fire. Be prepared to apply water to grain on the ground after it exits the dryer or have the fire department available to do so.

Ensure the wet grain conveyor and wet grain leg serving the dryer are wired independently from other electrical circuits serving the grain drying operation. This allows the operator to flush the grain columns when the electricity is shut off to the rest of the operation.

When preparing your pre-incident fire plan, verify that your dryer installation allows for ease in dumping of the grain columns. If an obstruction, such as control panels or adjacent bin foundations, impedes the flow of grain from the column dump gates, your plan should recognize that suitable equipment, such as front end loaders or shovels, will be needed to move grain.

Business continuity after a fire
The aftermath of a fire can mean confronting various losses – death or serious injury, financial loss, property damage, business interruption and production downtime. Take time to develop a business continuity plan before an incident occurs to help you prepare for the impact of a grain dryer fire.

For instance, your organization will need to identify how to continue accepting and drying grain if a grain dryer is impaired for a significant amount of time. You should also prepare a statement for local and social media outlets as these events often make headline news in smaller communities.

A proactive approach to fire management, including a pre-incident fire plan, can help your organization prevent fires before they start, minimize damages with early detection and know the proper methods of extinguishing. Thorough preparation and planning can help your organization recover successfully.

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Sonny Perdue, South Dakota Gov. Discuss Importance of Grain Bin Safety

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 04:47:20 GMT

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue talks with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem about the importance of safety when working with grain bins on farms and agribusinesses. Governor Noem shares a personal story of loss due to a grain bin accident on her family’s farm.

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Avoid Costly Misapplication Mishaps

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 04:16:45 GMT

Keys to Clear Application Communication
How to avoid chemical misapplications

Effective communication is key to misapplication prevention.
Effective communication between chemical applicator and farmer is a key element in helping prevent costly and dangerous misapplications. It’s critical for everyone involved to recognize the importance of their role in the conversation and to understand how their actions can help prevent errors and accidents.

Exchange complete information about the application
Effective, interactive communication between chemical applicator and farmer must occur before the applicator heads out to the field. That means taking good notes while making out work orders and asking for specific details and expectations from the farmer. The primary objective here is to obtain as much information as possible.

When in doubt, don’t spray
Whenever there are questions or concerns, make it your policy not to spray. If you don’t, errors—such as spraying the wrong field or applying the wrong chemical—can occur. Ironically, those errors are among the easiest to prevent if everyone works together and communicates.

Clear communication with all employees is important
Effective communication is important not only between applicator and farmer, but between applicator and fertilizer manager and other internal employees. A breakdown in internal communication can lead to costly errors, resulting from:

Insufficient tank rinsing between spray jobs
Spraying when it’s too windy
Improperly calibrating or maintaining spray equipment
Reusing chemical containers, which is prohibited per the label
Not following label instructions
Going off-label

What to do if an accident occurs
Unfortunately, there will be instances when a claim needs to be filed. When a covered incident occurs you should immediately do the following:

Notify your insurer as soon as possible
Document as much information as possible to assist your claims representative

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Prepare for the Long-Term Care of Your Farm

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 20:11:29 GMT

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Handshakes Aren't Enough: Tips on Getting it in Writing

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 20:06:32 GMT

Friendship Keepers: Why are contracts important

Modern business deals have made contracts more dynamic and complex than ever before.

What is a contract?
Contracts are a voluntary agreement between two or more parties to perform a service, provide a product, or commit to an act. Written agreements are commonly known as ‘friendship keepers’ as they clearly outline each party’s rights and obligations.

Written contracts are often a very important part of any deal or business process. The digital era has connected business partners across the globe, rendering oral contracts all but obsolete. Modern business deals have made contracts more dynamic and complex than ever before -- so much so that it is advisable for businesses of any size to operate with written contracts.

The following are requisite elements that must be established to demonstrate the formation of a legally binding contract:

Offer
Acceptance
Consideration
Capacity to contract
Intent of parties to contract
Object of a contract

An offer is a promise to act or refrain from acting, made in exchange for a return promise to do the same.

Accepting a contract is agreeing to the terms as specified in the contract.

Consideration is when each party to a contract provides something of value that induces the other to enter the agreement.

Both parties must be bound to perform their obligations or the law will treat the agreement as if neither party is bound to perform. When an offeree and offeror exchange promises to perform, one party may not be given the absolute and unlimited right to cancel the contract.

Why are contracts considered Friendship Keepers? Written contracts are tools that create enforceable actions that negate “word against word” and can be accurately interpreted by the judicial system.

Most states in the country have determined that contracts must be in writing to be enforceable.

Contracts help provide security and peace of mind
In any business dealing, a written contract can provide security and peace of mind to all the parties involved in the transaction.

“Additional Insured Status” is when a person or organization enjoys the benefits of being an insured under an insurance policy, in addition to the named. An additional insured often gains this status by means of an endorsement added to the insurance policy which identifies the additional party by name.

Case example: A written contract could have solved liability
An insured hired a contractor to build a new grain bin and the agreement was made with friendly handshake.

The contractor supplied his own equipment/tools, employees and materials for the job. During construction, a customer of the insured entered the premises and sustained an injury from a hazard created by the contractor. After the injury, the contractor informed the insured he would take care of everything. A few days later, a lawsuit was filed by the injured party, naming the insured and the contractor as defendants. The contractor’s insurance company would not agree to defend the insured, as the allegation was that the incident arose out of the insured’s premises liability and there was not a contract (written agreement) to trigger insurance coverage on the contractor’s policy.

As a result, both the insured and the contractor had to hire separate attorneys to defend their case. The attorney representing the insured tried to get the insured dismissed from the case by filing a MSJ (Motion for Summary Judgment), that would have plead that the contractor was responsible for the injuries because they arose from his operations. The Judge ruled that “It was a question of fact for a jury to decide”, as the judge did not have a written contract to reference. If one of the parties to the suit did not like the result of the trial, ruling in favor of the MSJ would have provided an opening for the case to be appealed.

If there had been a contract that clearly outlined that the contractor was responsible for any incidents resulting in bodily injury or property damage arising out of his operations and agreeing to pay for any defense or settlement, then the MSJ would have been successful.

If a signed written contract would have been in place, the contractor’s insurance company would have accepted the tendering from the insured’s carrier and extended coverage for this loss as stated in the Insured contract clause.

What happens when a loss occurs without a signed contract?
As shared in the case example, if you do not have a signed written contract, you could incur legal expenses to defend a case when your actions did not contribute to the cause of the loss. Not only could legal expenses be incurred, but a jury could decide that your company is responsible for all or some of the injury/damages. In addition, if you have insurance, you will have a claim on your insurance policy that will show an incurred payment.

What if I have a Certificate of Insurance? Is that enough?
Much like a contract, producing a Certificate of Insurance (COI) based on your elected coverage can be an important aspect of protecting your business in the event of a loss scenario, but is in no way a substitute for a properly orchestrated and approved written contract. A COI is a document used to provide information on specific insurance coverage. The certificate provides verification of the insurance and usually contains information on types and limits of coverage, insurance company, policy number, named insured, and the policies’ effective periods. COIs are generally issued by the agency and not the insurance company and do NOT provide, extend nor amend insurance coverage or guarantee coverage.

What are the benefits of having a contract?

A contract document spells out in specific language the obligations of each party
A contract document clearly outlines each party’s responsibilities in the event of a loss
Friendships can be preserved; handshakes are not evidence in a court of law
Contracts are legally enforceable in a court of law
Contracts often represent a tool that companies use to safeguard their resources
Written contracts also help in the event the other party breaches an agreement
A contract sets clear expectations for insurance companies involved in resolving a problem(s)
A contract provides security and peace of mind
A contract can help avoids expensive litigation proceedings

Consult legal counsel
Insurance coverage varies by state, coverage and additional insured status and the effectiveness of contracts depends upon governing law, case law interpretation, policy forms in effect, and policy forms in place at the time of the loss. Policyholders should consult legal counsel for advice on the execution of contracts and contact their agent to discuss their policy options.

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How To Engage Employees In Your Farm Safety Plan

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 20:05:48 GMT

Creating a safety culture at your workplace requires a proactive safety attitude. Consider these tips to get workers onboard.

Talk about safety
The more you talk up the importance of safety, the more you’ll generate awareness and attention at the management, supervisory and employee levels. Regular discussion helps promote a safety culture that encourages inclusion and information sharing. It’s widely recognized that the safest workplaces are where workers hear people talking regularly about safety.

Encourage safety suggestions
Who knows a job better than the workers who perform it - especially highly experienced and skilled ones? Listen to them. Encourage workers to share their ideas for making their jobs safer. You’ll improve safety conditions and performance, while involving them in the improvement process.

Act promptly to correct hazards and improve safety conditions
Whenever you identify hazards or workers bring them to your attention, act promptly to correct the situation. If you don’t fix safety problems - even the minor ones - right away, employees will think you don’t care, so why should they?

Provide ongoing safety and health training and information
Make sure employees have the skills, knowledge and understanding they need to work safely and avoid accidents. Well-trained employees develop good safety attitudes and are more apt to make safety a priority.

Reward safe performance
If you’re not already doing so, make safety performance a part of employee performance appraisals and communicate your expectations often. Employees who understand that pay increases, promotions and other rewards are contingent on having a proactive safety attitude tend to take workplace safety more seriously.

Set positive examples
Make sure your managers and supervisors set a positive example and consistently demonstrate safe behaviors themselves.

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Tips to Avoid Common Loss of Farm Equipment

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 19:50:51 GMT

Think about how long accumulating your farm equipment took. And about the money you spent on each piece.

If a fire, flood, tornado or other covered disaster strikes your farm or ranch, will you be able to make a list of all of the damaged or destroyed equipment for your insurer?

Be prepared if you have to file an insurance claim
Conduct an equipment inventory so you have a detailed record of each tool, including:

Purchase date and purchase cost. Include receipts.

Estimated replacement value
Serial or ID number
Model number, brand and year

This information helps your insurance company reimburse you fairly and quickly, according to your policy provisions. Many farm management software packages include inventory tools that help make the job easier. But a notebook and a file box of organized receipts can also work.

Whatever you use, store your inventory records in a safe, off-site location, such as a safe deposit box. If your home is damaged, your records could be damaged, too.

Examples of equipment to inventory

Tractors, trucks, ATVs
Combines, corn pickers
Backhoes, hay balers, wagons
Disks, cultivators
Seeders and planters
Fertilizer spreaders, sprayers
Milking machines, air compressors
Pumps, irrigation equipment
Post hole diggers, manure spreaders
Mowers, snow throwers, motors

Consider marking each piece with a permanent identification number. If your equipment is stolen, an ID number will be useful for law enforcement. Use a metal engraver or stamping tool, and place the number in an inconspicuous spot.

Other ways taking equipment inventory may help
Conducting an annual equipment inventory will also help you:

Determine if equipment may need to be repaired.
Ensure that your existing equipment is adequately covered when your policy renews.
Add new equipment to your policy when it renews.

Talk to your farm insurance agent to make sure all of your equipment is adequately covered.

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Checklist for Loading and Unloading Equipment

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 19:46:54 GMT

Do You Know All the Right Safety Steps?

Loading and unloading farm equipment is a dangerous process that requires great attention to complete safely.

Loading and Unloading Farm Implements Checklist

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What's Your Insurance Policy Actually Cover? Ohio Farmer Shares Tips

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 19:18:35 GMT

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Prepare Your Farm With a Business Continuity Plan

Tue, 23 Feb 2021 19:08:03 GMT

Business continuity planning

Having a business continuity program in place is key to maintaining minimum operations and reduce recovery time during a business disruption.

What is Business Continuity Management?

Business Continuity Management (BCM) is about preparing your organization to respond to potential threats of business disruption. It can also help create resilience to withstand negative impacts and continue operations when a disruption occurs. It’s about protecting your business and the stakeholders who rely on it – the customers who purchase your products or services, the owners and shareholders with a financial stake in the success of the company and the employees who make their livelihood serving your business and its customers.

The primary goals of planning are:

Maintain a minimum level of operations during disruption
Reduce recovery time

Having a business continuity program in place, along with associated contingency plans, is key to helping an organization achieve these goals.

Disaster recovery, crisis response, emergency response and incident response
The terminology used by business continuity professionals can be confusing. For example, the term disaster recovery may be used to describe business continuity, but its typically reserved to reference strategic plans for recovery and resumption of only critical information technology (IT) and telecommunications assets during a disaster.

Crisis response, emergency response and incident response are terms that refer to the immediate actions taken during an incident to preserve life, prevent injury and prevent further damage to property.

Contingency planning (or plans) refers to specific tactics or actions taken during a disruption. Each of these are among the elements included in a broader overall business continuity management plan.

The International Standards Organization (ISO), in May of 2012, published the first edition standard ISO 22301, Societal security – Business continuity management systems – Requirements. This document serves as a consensus standard specifying the requirements for setting up and managing an effective Business Continuity Management System (BCMS).

In summary, a Business Continuity Management System (BCMS) can be considered a suite of documented policies, organizational structure, analyses, assessments, plans, procedures and responsibilities to help ensure an organization does not experience an unacceptable interruption in the event of a disruption to its business operations.

At the core of Business Continuity Management (BCM) are four main elements:

Crisis response and communications
Risk management
IT disaster recovery
Business contingency or resumption planning and recovery

Is your business prepared for an unexpected disruption or disaster?
The risk of disruptive incidents to businesses and organizations is increasing. Recent increases in frequency and severity of weather-related disasters, rains associated with landslides and flooding, severe windstorms, and even drought conditions that can lead to increased exposure to wildfires.

Additional disruption examples include:

Manufacturers relying on just-in-time supplies and inventory
Suppliers with an increased risk of supply chain disruptions
Livestock producers face increased risk for disease outbreaks that can wipe out poultry, swine or other animals
Computer hackers create increased risk of security breach and denial-of-service (DNS) attacks
Food manufacturers and retail restaurants face the risk of food contamination and associated customer illness, often leading to bad publicity and risks to their reputation.

How vulnerable is your business to threats of disruption? How safe are your resources? What is your tolerance for downtime?

These are all things to consider when developing a business continuity plan. Identifying key operations and dependencies, completing a business impact analysis (BIA) and conducting a risk assessment are some of the components of business continuity planning that will help you answer these questions. The results can help guide your determination for appropriate risk management techniques to employ and the specific business contingency plans to develop as a part of your overall business continuity management plan.

What keeps many businesses from developing and implementing a continuity plan?
Many business leaders and managers are aware of the concept of business continuity and the importance to their organizations. In many cases they consider potential incidents that could disrupt business and the possible actions to take in response. However, few small to medium-sized companies have formally analyzed their risk or developed business continuity plans. Why?

One reason may be that major interruption of business is relatively infrequent. This may lead to a sense of apathy about the probability of an incident impacting business operations and reduces the significance.

Another reason is the belief that disruptions can be addressed at point of impact, therefore rendering the effort and resources to develop and implement a business continuity plan low priority. The result? Many businesses will find themselves unprepared in the event of a major disruption.

Furthermore, many businesses rely on business income insurance coverage to indemnify and compensate for lost income due to interruptions of their operations. While this is one effective risk management strategy, this coverage is normally limited and tied to direct physical damage or loss to covered property due to a covered peril. Many potential threats (or perils) that can lead to a disruption of your business are not covered by your property policy. And perhaps most importantly, it will not cover the potential permanent loss of customers. Where will your customers go if your business cannot provide its products or service following a loss? Will they return?

And finally, developing a formal business continuity plan may not be a top management priority or commitment because of lack of time, budget or funding. But when you consider the risks of loss and the potential impacts to your business from a disruption, can you afford NOT to plan for business continuity?

Make Business Continuity Management part of your corporate risk management program
Nationwide encourages all businesses to make Business Continuity Management (BCM) a part of their company’s overall corporate risk management program. To help you get started, we’ve developed Business Contingency Planning – A Seven-Step Guide to help develop business contingency plans to address potential risks that could impact your businesses.

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Nationwide

Grain Bin Rescue: How Does it Feel to Save Someone's Life?

Sponsored Content

Shut Down a Grain Dryer in 3 Steps

Preventing and preparing for grain dryer fires

Sponsored by Nationwide

Sonny Perdue, South Dakota Gov. Discuss Importance of Grain Bin Safety

Sponsored by Nationwide

Avoid Costly Misapplication Mishaps

Keys to Clear Application Communication
How to avoid chemical misapplications

Sponsored by Nationwide

Prepare for the Long-Term Care of Your Farm

Sponsored By Nationwide

Handshakes Aren't Enough: Tips on Getting it in Writing

Friendship Keepers: Why are contracts important

Sponsored by Nationwide

How To Engage Employees In Your Farm Safety Plan

Sponsored Content

Tips to Avoid Common Loss of Farm Equipment

Sponsored by Nationwide

Checklist for Loading and Unloading Equipment

Sponsored by Nationwide

What's Your Insurance Policy Actually Cover? Ohio Farmer Shares Tips

Sponsored by Nationwide

Prepare Your Farm With a Business Continuity Plan

Business continuity planning

What is Business Continuity Management?

Sponsored by Nationwide

Nationwide

Grain Bin Rescue: How Does it Feel to Save Someone's Life?

Sponsored Content

Shut Down a Grain Dryer in 3 Steps

Preventing and preparing for grain dryer fires

Sponsored by Nationwide

Sonny Perdue, South Dakota Gov. Discuss Importance of Grain Bin Safety

Sponsored by Nationwide

Avoid Costly Misapplication Mishaps

Keys to Clear Application CommunicationHow to avoid chemical misapplications

Sponsored by Nationwide

Prepare for the Long-Term Care of Your Farm

Sponsored By Nationwide

Handshakes Aren't Enough: Tips on Getting it in Writing

Friendship Keepers: Why are contracts important

Sponsored by Nationwide

How To Engage Employees In Your Farm Safety Plan

Sponsored Content

Tips to Avoid Common Loss of Farm Equipment

Sponsored by Nationwide

Checklist for Loading and Unloading Equipment

Sponsored by Nationwide

What's Your Insurance Policy Actually Cover? Ohio Farmer Shares Tips

Sponsored by Nationwide

Prepare Your Farm With a Business Continuity Plan

Business continuity planning

What is Business Continuity Management?

Sponsored by Nationwide

Keys to Clear Application Communication
How to avoid chemical misapplications