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Harvest Prep - Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Preparing for harvest means ensuring grain-handling facility employees have all the personal protective equipment (PPE) they need to do their jobs safely, especially at this hectic time of year.

Common PPE worn at harvest time and around receiving pits are gloves, hardhats, dust masks, high-visibility clothing, steel-toed boots, and eye protection.

Gloves protect hands while opening dump gates or using turn wheels. High-visibility gloves can help workers relay hand signals while positioning trucks or moving equipment.

Hard hats must comply with American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z89 and be worn in areas where there is head injury potential from falling objects.

Appropriate respirators, or dust masks, and training programs are required to protect workers in such jobs as cleaning grain bins, blowing down, housekeeping, and loading or unloading trucks.

The more visible you make yourself with high-visibility clothing, the safer you will be. Shirts, vest, coats, and gloves are all helpful and must meet ANSI standards.

Steel-toed boots protect feet from falling objects or compression.

Eyewear such as safety glasses or goggles must be ANSI approved and have a Z87 stamp.

This Safety Tip of the Week is based on a Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) Cornbelt Chapter webinar presented Aug. 26 by John Lee, safety-health-environmental services director for the Grain and Feed Association of Illinois (GFAI), Springfield, IL (217-787-2417). 

Last week's Safety Tip of The Week: 10 Ways to Make Your Facility Safe During Harvest

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