IATP Hog Report - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Section 2
Safety
Some Strategies and
Alternatives for
Improving the Safety and
Quality of Animal
Production
References
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manure. 3,4 According to one expert, due to the size of the industry and the
growth in the number of farms using liquid manure handling methods, it is
no longer possible to determine how many people are exposed to liquid
manure each year in the United States. 5 Yet every year incidents are
reported in which someone becomes ill or dies from exposure to deadly
gasses emanating from liquid manure storage structures. 6
Safety Hazards of Industrialized, Intensive Livestock
Confinement
On July 26, 1989, five farm workers in one family died after consecutively
entering a 10-foot deep liquid manure pit on their Michigan farm. 7,8 A
shear pin had broken on the mechanism used to agitate the manure before
pumping it into the tank that would carry it to the fields. The farm owner's
28-year-old son descended into the pit on a ladder and made the repair.
While climbing out, he was overcome by fumes and fell back into the pit.
Subsequently, the owners' 15-year-old grandson, his 63-year-old cousin,
his 37-year-old son, and the 65-year-old farm owner himself entered the
pit and collapsed, each one having intended to rescue the others. The
medical examiner cited methane asphyxiation as the cause of death.
On June 26, 1989, a 31-year-old Ohio dairy farmer and his 33-year-old
brother died when the farmer entered a liquid manure pit to unclog a pump
intake pipe. 9,10 The brother died in an attempted rescue. The coroner's
ruling was drowning secondary to loss of consciousness from methane
asphyxia.
Methane is explosive at concentrations of 55,000 parts per million (ppm)
or five percent to 15% by volume. 11 Usually it escapes, but it can collect
below the slotted floors of confinement buildings. Farmers and farm
workers are cautioned, when using machinery around manure pits, not to
ignite fire or create sparks. To avoid asphyxiation by methane, farmers
and farm workers are advised to don a self-contained air supply, such as
those worn by fire fighters, before entering liquid manure pits.
On August 8, 1992, a 27-year-old employee of a Minnesota hog farm and
his 46-year-old uncle, who co-owned the farm, died after entering an
outdoor manure pit. 12 The employee entered the pit to repair a pump and
was overcome by fumes. The uncle died when he attempted to rescue his
nephew. They were pronounced dead from hydrogen sulfide poisoning.
Hydrogen sulfide is highly toxic. 13 Because it is heavier than air, it
concentrates just above manure level in the storage pit. Hydrogen sulfide
is also explosive over a wide range of concentrations from 4.3% to 46%
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