Feed Mill Safety: Check These On Your Next Safety Inspection

WEBVTT
00:00:00.359 --> 00:00:03.649
Today's topic op mill safety issues.
00:00:03.649 --> 00:00:05.504
Okay, you know anything about mills.
00:00:06.089 --> 00:00:07.500
Do actually Well, so do.
00:00:07.519 --> 00:00:08.846
I, so this ought to be a great topic.
00:00:08.980 --> 00:00:10.364
I actually got a mill VPP once.
00:00:10.605 --> 00:00:12.810
Anyway, a long time ago, here we go.
00:00:12.810 --> 00:00:20.966
Welcome back to our channel.
00:00:20.966 --> 00:00:23.669
Today we're doing op mill safety issues.
00:00:23.669 --> 00:00:25.905
Okay, we have a lot of mills across the country.
00:00:25.905 --> 00:00:26.288
We do.
00:00:26.288 --> 00:00:31.071
We've got a lot of locations that have mills, complexes where they have plants, farms, the mill attached.
00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:41.207
I kind of like this one, because a lot of times it's hard to get folks out to the physical mill itself to support them and they may only have like five people that work there.
00:00:41.207 --> 00:00:41.801
That's what I mean.
00:00:41.801 --> 00:00:47.533
So, whether it's a third party or it's just not in the budget, sometimes it's hard to get a little bit of extra help out there.
00:00:47.759 --> 00:00:53.093
We do all this here and there's the mill in the background, so all right.
00:00:53.093 --> 00:00:54.926
So the first one's going to be is housekeeping.
00:00:55.548 --> 00:00:55.709
Yeah.
00:00:56.121 --> 00:00:58.884
I know everyone's like well, that's pretty easy.
00:00:58.884 --> 00:00:59.728
Why would you have it?
00:00:59.728 --> 00:01:06.861
Because it's still a problem.
00:01:06.861 --> 00:01:08.647
It's the cleaning routine, it's the cleaning cycle.
00:01:08.647 --> 00:01:12.146
It's winter, with labor and turnover and elevated work issues, the housekeeping becomes a challenge.
00:01:13.320 --> 00:01:14.787
Well, I think that that's a great point.
00:01:14.787 --> 00:01:33.644
So, even if we are not having to keep things in an explosion proof manner, so we're not having to deal with certain seals and class two div three things, I think that it's important to really be realistic about when we have shortened labor and we've got some other things going on.
00:01:33.644 --> 00:01:37.542
So people, we all know it's winter, everybody's sick, everybody's kids are sick.
00:01:37.542 --> 00:01:39.067
Now we're short even more.
00:01:39.067 --> 00:01:47.727
Staying on top of some of that daily stuff when you're trying to keep up with orders Absolutely Trucks waiting and they're backing up now and we're trying to go it does get to be a challenge.
00:01:47.727 --> 00:01:54.769
I know that there's a lot of locations that have been battling ice issues, so you've got most of your mills in rural areas besides.
00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:58.090
So now that's where they're at or you get harvest season, they're backed up, yeah.
00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:00.668
Everything's kind of thrown into chaos with everything.
00:02:00.668 --> 00:02:06.176
So, yeah, I mean housekeeping takes a back seat because we've got all these other more pressing issues.
00:02:06.176 --> 00:02:21.905
But just because you don't need to maintain things in an explosion-proof type environment, you should still have a dust program, you should still have a housekeeping program, because you never know when that buildup of dust, one auger or one hammer mill is going to have a problem.
00:02:21.905 --> 00:02:22.526
Well, yeah.
00:02:22.566 --> 00:02:23.830
Get a hole in the guard.
00:02:23.830 --> 00:02:25.193
The next thing you know you got product building up.
00:02:25.193 --> 00:02:26.157
You get some bearing issues.
00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:29.248
Yeah, you get some bearing sparks and stuff and away we go.
00:02:29.248 --> 00:02:31.526
Yeah, I mean especially with the dry air in the winter too.
00:02:31.920 --> 00:02:36.461
One thing we see about the housekeeping is A lot of it can be elevated work.
00:02:36.461 --> 00:02:39.000
If it is, who's going to do it?
00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:39.883
What times of year?
00:02:39.883 --> 00:02:40.925
What's the scheduling look like?
00:02:40.925 --> 00:02:45.486
Maybe I want to do it next month, but the contractor, whoever used to do it, is booked for three months.
00:02:45.486 --> 00:02:48.423
I've got a plan that is part of my housekeeping schedules.
00:02:48.423 --> 00:02:48.944
I go through it.
00:02:49.115 --> 00:02:59.770
Well, I think that it's important to consider, like I said, weather and time of year, because you may not call getting things unclogged that are up high.
00:02:59.770 --> 00:03:15.581
So if you've got some clogged legs or anything like that, you may not necessarily call that housekeeping, but summertime, when it's humid, especially in the south, we'll see people put elevation with a hammer beat up stuff, trying to break product up and get stuff to start flowing again.
00:03:16.242 --> 00:03:32.173
And so, whether you call housekeeping, it's almost like housekeeping, yes, keeping it clean, but also the repair and maintenance side, Absolutely Housekeeping keeping things in good condition so that they flow right, work right, we don't get some of that seepage of moisture in there, seals and you know stuff like that.
00:03:32.974 --> 00:03:38.338
The other one's being clean outs and, by the way, we do have a personal podcast this week.
00:03:38.498 --> 00:03:40.781
She's been needy this week, I don't know.
00:03:41.200 --> 00:03:42.961
The bin cleanouts we will see.
00:03:42.961 --> 00:03:52.650
Sometimes it's contracted, sometimes it's internal, sometimes it's time of year, sometimes it's part of a confined space, so there could be different factors going, but we still see some opportunities of bin cleanouts.
00:03:52.650 --> 00:03:56.211
Or maybe it's like the slope of the inside of it.
00:03:56.211 --> 00:03:59.556
Well, we don't need a contract to clean that because it's not really scary.
00:03:59.556 --> 00:04:03.282
But we're going to slide down in here and try to clean that out a little bit.
00:04:03.282 --> 00:04:04.524
But should we really?
00:04:04.544 --> 00:04:09.216
I've seen how we can justify that it's not a confined space because it adds a lot of extra stuff.
00:04:09.235 --> 00:04:10.078
Because it's being cleaned out.
00:04:10.659 --> 00:04:11.923
Yeah, and we have to do it, yeah.
00:04:11.923 --> 00:04:20.654
So I think one of the biggest things is that we really just need to back up and evaluate how we remove people from that space Should they have a medical event.
00:04:20.654 --> 00:04:24.324
It doesn't necessarily always have to be the engulfment, that's right.
00:04:24.565 --> 00:04:31.939
Yes, sometimes the interpoints are way, way high for some of the stuff they're doing, or inspection of the bin before they decide they want to clean it out, and there'll be way up here.
00:04:31.939 --> 00:04:33.841
You're like you got to get them down from there to here.
00:04:34.041 --> 00:04:34.242
Yes.
00:04:34.242 --> 00:04:38.182
So it's like it's not always engulfment, it's not always the air is crazy.
00:04:38.182 --> 00:04:41.088
People can have a heart attack or a stroke at any time.
00:04:41.088 --> 00:04:44.584
You just never know when those events are going to happen.
00:04:44.584 --> 00:04:55.449
And so, regardless, we just need a way to remove that person safely, and if we don't have the right equipment or training, we need to be trying to source a contractor that does Absolutely.
00:04:55.555 --> 00:05:00.927
And I will also tell you a big tip off on if this is a problem, because we all know at every mill this happens.
00:05:00.927 --> 00:05:02.641
We have to clean the bins periodically.
00:05:02.641 --> 00:05:04.983
Your confined space permits give you away.
00:05:04.983 --> 00:05:16.795
They give you away every time, and so that's the thing that we just want to make sure is really shored up, is because, you know, is making sure that they all dovetail nicely together with our program, with our training.
00:05:16.795 --> 00:05:22.944
It all fits nicely, because that's just one of those PMs that we know routinely happen, that regulators know.
00:05:22.944 --> 00:05:27.502
That's the first thing I can pull to see if we've got a problem with a whole lot of other stuff.
00:05:27.502 --> 00:05:29.502
And now the citations just take off.
00:05:30.295 --> 00:05:32.122
Another thing we looked at was the loan protocols.
00:05:32.122 --> 00:05:34.322
Now people say, well, how could that be?
00:05:34.322 --> 00:05:48.362
Because there's a lot of times at mills and farms there's one person, one maintenance or one person kind of keeping everything looked at on the weekend because there's not a lot of crewing there, so you got to have some alone and that may be calling someone every so often.
00:05:48.362 --> 00:05:53.774
But you have to have some kind of protocol to make sure we're checking on the people well, let's consider the, the mill property itself.
00:05:53.956 --> 00:06:09.271
some folks have somebody that's out away from the building, so so whether they're doing formulations or whether they're doing, you know, bringing it, dealing with trucks or scales or whatever, but we may have someone that's in a building away doing tasks from the main mill itself.
00:06:09.271 --> 00:06:12.880
That it's still on the property and they still are employed by the mill.
00:06:12.880 --> 00:06:21.622
They're kind of way out there and they're sort of the first contact for anybody coming on the property and they're a little bit exposed from a security standpoint than the rest of the mill.
00:06:21.622 --> 00:06:38.242
In addition to that, the other thing I would say is going with more of the security standpoint a lot of the mills that we see in rural areas, response times to them are not real short, generally speaking Correct, and we don't have a great way to secure them.
00:06:38.877 --> 00:06:45.843
So, they're wide open railroad tracks, maybe from behind A lot of them aren't fenced can drive on the property and walk right in.
00:06:45.843 --> 00:06:48.281
We don't have a way to lock doors and stuff.
00:06:48.802 --> 00:06:49.435
Right, so that was.
00:06:49.435 --> 00:06:50.478
My next one was security.
00:06:50.478 --> 00:06:51.682
Oh well, there you go, so there we go.
00:06:51.682 --> 00:06:52.504
So we got that handled.
00:06:52.625 --> 00:06:53.226
I worked at a mill.
00:07:00.154 --> 00:07:00.456
That's right.
00:07:00.456 --> 00:07:02.646
Protocols could also be where somebody's working at night finishing up a project before we're done.
00:07:02.646 --> 00:07:06.482
It could be that you know there's a contractor there and that contractor is getting relieved at the end of the day and I'm going to check everything they're doing.
00:07:06.482 --> 00:07:11.766
So I'm by myself, you know, maybe I go in early and I'm going to get the equipment running and check everything.
00:07:11.766 --> 00:07:12.014
I mean.
00:07:12.014 --> 00:07:17.985
So there's there's these weird times or maybe it's just I'm doing a maintenance task and I'm kind of out there by myself and we don't think about that.
00:07:17.985 --> 00:07:19.327
Person's been out there for like three hours.
00:07:19.327 --> 00:07:20.209
What are they doing.
00:07:21.598 --> 00:07:24.059
A lot of times we do hot work outside the mill.
00:07:24.059 --> 00:07:29.845
We have a shop away from the mill where we do hot work and things like that, because we don't obviously want to really do it inside the mill.
00:07:29.845 --> 00:07:34.762
Any of those security functions most of the time.
00:07:34.762 --> 00:07:40.004
If we are running 24 hours a day, the off shifts are thin on people.
00:07:40.134 --> 00:07:45.281
We may have only two or three mats, and they're still doing everything, still doing outside, inside.
00:07:45.281 --> 00:07:47.754
So the alone secured all kind of ties in together.
00:07:47.935 --> 00:07:53.062
When you're running around trying to do all the tasks and you're checking bearings and you're checking heat and you're doing sensors.
00:07:53.083 --> 00:07:53.685
And it's cold.
00:07:53.685 --> 00:07:55.259
You got to figure out how to thaw everything out.
00:07:55.319 --> 00:08:02.204
Yep, and you're also thing out, yep, and you're also, you know, in the control room and trying to run all this stuff, and then you're going to different bend decks.
00:08:02.204 --> 00:08:08.922
You may not notice if something's off until way off, absolutely all right, my uh last one today.
00:08:09.543 --> 00:08:10.625
Uh, for my meal safety.
00:08:10.625 --> 00:08:11.567
What do you think it is?
00:08:13.295 --> 00:08:15.134
I don't know, you covered elevated work.
00:08:15.956 --> 00:08:16.276
Augers.
00:08:16.276 --> 00:08:19.877
Yep, what you need to do is you need to go, look at every auger.
00:08:19.877 --> 00:08:24.298
You have figure out what risk goes with it, because augers tell me a story.
00:08:24.298 --> 00:08:27.213
Yeah, so if I go to a location, am I doing a sampling?
00:08:27.213 --> 00:08:29.120
Where the guarding's right or not for the auger?
00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:32.754
Is the auger down below like a receiving pit, and is it confined space?
00:08:32.754 --> 00:08:39.225
Does the auger when the receiving pit or the truck or tractor or trailer or anything brings product in?
00:08:39.225 --> 00:08:42.817
Now I've got to break it loose, but I've got to have the auger running for some of that stuff.
00:08:42.817 --> 00:08:45.096
So it's you look at augers overall.
00:08:45.096 --> 00:08:52.191
Look, I would take auger safety and kind of kind of bring it out and just treat it like it's almost its own world, like, how do we manage augers?
00:08:52.230 --> 00:08:59.734
Well, you, Well, you know it's a little bit different on the ag side as opposed to the manufacturing side.
00:08:59.734 --> 00:09:09.258
We don't ever check the integrity of any of the guards that are on the stuff and we do walk on top of the equipment a lot Elevator legs.
00:09:09.258 --> 00:09:24.083
You know all of that stuff, we walk on top of all of this so we have no idea when that's going to give way or if it's not doing good underneath because it's being exposed to some moisture content over time and product.
00:09:24.224 --> 00:09:25.424
Yeah, so I tried it.
00:09:25.424 --> 00:09:29.826
We spend time on these episodes looking for control, to look to get your mind opened up.
00:09:29.826 --> 00:09:30.346
What are different?
00:09:30.386 --> 00:09:30.547
risks.
00:09:30.547 --> 00:09:31.347
Where do you have augers?
00:09:31.347 --> 00:09:32.467
Are you walking on them?
00:09:32.467 --> 00:09:33.148
That's right.
00:09:33.227 --> 00:09:33.889
Are they elevated?
00:09:33.889 --> 00:09:36.751
Are you having to go down below?
00:09:36.751 --> 00:09:37.794
What if it's a flat ladder and it's cold out?
00:09:37.794 --> 00:09:40.902
And I see we did episode of a few weeks ago about look for where a hose is.
00:09:40.902 --> 00:09:42.573
Yeah, well, look, we're an auger.
00:09:42.573 --> 00:09:46.552
An auger will tell you a story that's that's guarding, and that's bearings and that's heat.
00:09:47.033 --> 00:09:49.341
You know start asking well, why is their footprints there?
00:09:49.341 --> 00:09:50.610
Why is their hammer marks there?
00:09:50.610 --> 00:09:51.392
What are we doing?
00:09:51.392 --> 00:09:52.192
What are we accessing?
00:09:52.192 --> 00:09:53.214
Should we be locking that out?
00:09:53.214 --> 00:09:54.254
Are you taking taking the guard off?
00:09:54.254 --> 00:09:57.118
Why are you going into that pit down there?
00:09:57.118 --> 00:09:58.820
Well, should that really be a confined space?
00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:02.403
There's no staircase there, so maybe that's a confined space.
00:10:02.403 --> 00:10:05.187
You know my receiving pits for number one, but that's where I start.
00:10:05.650 --> 00:10:09.134
If I was asked to go to a location, it was a mill I would start with augers.
00:10:09.134 --> 00:10:10.740
Start looking around.
00:10:10.740 --> 00:10:12.673
Now am I looking at security.
00:10:12.773 --> 00:10:14.616
That would be probably number two for me.
00:10:14.616 --> 00:10:29.669
My number one would be I would be looking for where they're locking out, because most of the time when the mills were originally built, there are no local disconnects, so everyone is going to the MCC room to lock out, are they?
00:10:29.669 --> 00:10:31.033
Are they going to the MCC?
00:10:31.094 --> 00:10:31.836
room or control panel.
00:10:31.836 --> 00:10:32.197
Are we doing?
00:10:32.217 --> 00:10:32.399
that?
00:10:32.399 --> 00:10:34.235
Where are we locking out?
00:10:34.235 --> 00:10:35.615
How are we checking for power?
00:10:35.789 --> 00:10:38.339
That's a good one so lockout is a huge one to me in mills.
00:10:38.339 --> 00:10:44.991
So you just want to check and really ask some questions how are we physically doing the lockout process?
00:10:44.991 --> 00:10:46.956
How are we checking for power?
00:10:46.956 --> 00:10:50.523
And then the next question is who is checking for power?
00:10:50.523 --> 00:10:55.402
Because that can be a different person than it is applying the lock sometimes.
00:10:55.402 --> 00:10:59.596
So you just want to ask some of those questions and see what your company is good with and how you want to manage that.
00:10:59.596 --> 00:11:00.719
These are opinions.
00:11:00.719 --> 00:11:15.638
Yep, these are our opinions, based on our experiences and our comfort level with things and how we've seen it regulated across all the different States, because we have mills and most, most States and in other countries if you guys need some more help or support.
00:11:16.312 --> 00:11:19.280
As we've mentioned in the past, joe and I do a lot on the ag side.
00:11:19.280 --> 00:11:22.078
We don't always talk about it and we don't always have pictures.
00:11:22.078 --> 00:11:27.903
Most of the time is because we can't bring in cameras to my farms because I can't shower in with those.
00:11:27.903 --> 00:11:33.636
I don't have them when I'm at the mills either, but we do do a lot with mills, so if you need some support, you need some help you were looking for.
00:11:33.697 --> 00:11:36.200
Maybe a one-day safety evaluation Got you.
00:11:36.200 --> 00:11:38.442
Allen-safetycom is where you'd go for that.
00:11:38.442 --> 00:11:46.110
Otherwise, allensafetycoachingcom is a great resource Also.
00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:47.671
I just want to remind you guys, liking and sharing these is so incredible.
00:11:47.671 --> 00:11:49.273
Yeah, let's like something, things and we'll do an episode on this later.
00:11:49.273 --> 00:12:01.562
But things I wish I would have known when I started being a content creator is how hard it would be to get folks to engage with the channel, just because we don't all want to make a big announcement Like, hey, maybe I didn't know that or you know, whatever.
00:12:01.562 --> 00:12:05.807
But liking and sharing and all of that good stuff really does help us.
00:12:08.590 --> 00:12:11.075
Spoiler alert we are not turning a massive profit.
00:12:11.075 --> 00:12:12.238
This is community service.
00:12:12.398 --> 00:12:14.682
Community service and volunteer hours.
00:12:14.682 --> 00:12:19.394
So, like I said, any little bit helps and we really do truly appreciate it.
00:12:19.394 --> 00:12:21.221
And until next time we'll see you later Stay safe.
00:12:21.221 --> 00:12:25.421
Thank you for listening to safe, efficient, profitable a worker safety podcast.
00:12:25.421 --> 00:12:52.875
If you're looking for more in-depth discussions or step-by-step solutions on all of the different safety and regulatory topics, please visit us at wwwallensafetycoachingcom for web-based virtual coaching and training, or at wwwallensafetycom to book our team for onsite services, training sessions to order merchandise, to learn more about our team and what services we provide in the field, or just simply to request a topic for us to cover on our next podcast.
00:12:52.875 --> 00:13:05.789
If you found today's podcast helpful and would like to support our podcast further, please help us by subscribing, liking and sharing this podcast with anyone that could benefit from the information we cover here, as that helps us to continue to put out this free content.
00:13:05.789 --> 00:13:06.571
Thank you.