The following are highlights from the 2019 Summary of U.S. Agricultural Confined Space-Related Injuries and Fatalities Report, issued March 11, 2020 by Purdue University.
• No fewer than 67 fatal and non-fatal cases involving all types of agricultural confined spaces were documented in 2019, representing a 9.8% increase over 2018.
• There were 38 grain entrapments in 2019 representing a 26.7% increase over 2018.
• 56.7% of all cases documented involved grain-related entrapments as compared to other cases involving falls, entanglements, and asphyxiations in all types of agricultural confined spaces.
• All documented cases were male.
• 58.2% (39) of 2019 cases were fatal compared to 61% historically.
• Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska reported the most cases in 2019. Historically, Iowa, Indiana, and Minnesota have recorded the most agricultural confined space cases.
• Minnesota reported the most grain-entrapment cases in 2019. Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois have recorded the most grain entrapment cases over time.
• Eight cases in 2019 involved a youth under the age of 21, of which five involved manure handling or storage.
• OSHA Region 5 and 7 have historically accounted for 68.4% of all documented agricultural confined space-related incidents.
• The number of agricultural confined space-related fatalities documented exceeded the number of mining-related fatalities in 2019 (39 versus 24).
