The 2025 Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week commenced at Iowa State University, marking a significant annual event aimed at educating the agriculture industry about safety hazards. The event, which runs from March 24 to 28, focuses on dangers such as grain engulfment in confined spaces.
This year's program is a collaboration involving the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Alliance Program, the Grain Handling Safety Council, the Grain Elevator and Processing Society, and the National Grain and Feed Association. The opening session in Ames highlighted key topics including worksite housekeeping, hearing conservation, prevention of struck-by incidents, and railway safety.
OSHA's Alliance Program has been instrumental in reducing fatal grain entrapments by 25.7 percent between 2022 and 2023. However, half of the reported grain entanglements in 2024 resulted in fatalities. Acting Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Amanda Wood Laihow emphasized the importance of safety: “Every worker should be able to go home safe at the end of the day,” she stated. “By working together with our alliance and industry partners, we’re making grain handling safer and raising awareness to protect the people who produce our nation’s vital food supply.”
Throughout Stand Up 4 Grain Safety Week, participants can engage in discussions and interactive webinars covering OSHA regulations and various safety topics such as fatigue management, emergency planning, worksite housekeeping practices, railway safety protocols, and alternative storage solutions for grain.
Information dissemination during this week is facilitated through newsletters, emails, social media platforms using #StandUp4GrainSafety, and resources available on the Stand Up 4 Grain Safety webpage.
OSHA’s Grain Handling Safety Standards target six major hazards: engulfment risks, falls from heights or structures, auger entanglement incidents, struck-by accidents involving moving equipment or objects, combustible dust explosions risk mitigation strategies, and electrocution prevention measures.
