Maintaining a grain bin is important to keep the grains of good quality, especially if the bins or silos are used for commercial purposes. The age, material quality, equipment or machinery, and the content of the bins require a proper checklist of regular maintenance steps. Since many silos or bins are not heavily regulated, many people must work in risky or unsafe situations.
Grain bin maintenance is important in ensuring the safety of people working on or near it. Many bins or silos in agriculture centers date back to decades ago, which means ensuring structural integrity is important. Grain bins can also damage natural elements like rain, storm, blizzard, heat, and hurricanes.
Regular silo maintenance is also important in preserving their contents. Silos hold large amounts of food supplies for markets, industries, food and beverage business, and many more. They are important facilities, especially in regions known as agriculture centers. Silos must be maintained regularly to ensure the quality of the stored grains.
A safety inspection checklist for grain bin maintenance is important to ensure thorough checking. Here are the important tasks included in the checklist.
The top part is the most obvious place to start checking. You need to check for any rust, cracks, debris, and leak damage to the grain supplies. You must also check the condition of the roof panels, vents, ribs, and stairs.
Check all the openings of the grain bin or silo, including maintenance holes, center caps, and other similar attachments. They must function properly and have no cracks or leaks. Openings also include aeration systems such as vents and aeration floors and tubes; they must be free of pest infestation, debris, and other obstructive objects.
Checking the walls includes the interior and exterior parts in grain bin maintenance. You must check for defects like dents, cracks, gaps, bumps, mold, rust, and other irregularities. Any defect must be immediately reported because it is related to structural integrity.
Make sure all the wirings and other electrical elements work properly. You must also check the condition of all the machinery, such as the gas train, hose, heaters, and many more. Do not forget to check the access points and panels, such as the doors, gates, and ladder platforms.
A good silo foundation must be level, without any holes, cracks, or gaps. Uneven or damaged foundation allows water damage, air leaking, and pests. The holes or gaps can also allow grains to leak out of the silo. You must also check the structural integrity, such as the foundation fasteners and structural beams, especially if the silo is old (at least 20 years old).
The sheer size of the silo or grain bin poses the risk of tools being accidentally left. Make sure to check all the tools before leaving the facility. Do not leave tools on the floor or things like a bucket and hard hat on the catwalk or tall platform. During the rainy season or winter, make sure there is no water, puddle, or snow left in the silo.
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Having checklists of maintenance and inspection is important in keeping the grain bins in good condition. One way to make it more efficient is using a digital management tool like Nimbly, which offers handy features such as a digital checklist.
The digital checklist feature from Nimbly allows you to create a digitized checklist that the fieldworker can check right on every inspection. The list can be shared immediately, eliminating the need for printed paper checklists. The digital checklist makes reporting easier, because it will automatically be generated once the fieldworker submits the checklist, and you can share the report immediately with everyone.
Moreover, you can maintain and monitor all the issues reported on the field with the issues tracker feature. It will immediately notify the management about all the spotted maintenance issues. The result can be shared immediately with all the related departments so they can fix it. It shortens the time needed to communicate and more to action.
In conclusion, keeping the grain bins in tip-top condition is important for safety and food security. Using Nimbly's digital checklist and issue tracker features will help you follow all the maintenance procedures and be informed about real-time problems.
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