PHE 101 Module 7 Project Two Example

Project Two: Stay Out, Stay Together, Get Out. A Layered Grain Bin Safety Plan for Prairie Bend County

[Student Name]

Southern New Hampshire University

PHE 101: Fundamentals of Public Health

Project Two

[Instructor Name]

[Date]

The organization, setting and figures below are a composite written as a model document. No real employer, client, colleague or patient is described.

Project Two: Stay Out, Stay Together, Get Out. A Layered Grain Bin Safety Plan for Prairie Bend County

Project One showed that grain bin entrapment in Prairie Bend County is rare in any single year but predictable across a decade: eleven incidents in ten years, most during harvest, most involving someone alone and several with an auger running. The determinants analysis in Module Six showed that the strongest levers sit with institutions such as the grain cooperative and fire districts rather than with individual knowledge. This project proposes a plan built on those findings. Its three aims are simple enough to fit on a cooperative sign: stay out of bins when possible, never go in alone and get people out quickly when something goes wrong. Every component below traces to one of those findings.

Goal and Objectives

The goal is to eliminate deaths from grain bin entrapment in Prairie Bend County. Four objectives make the goal measurable within one year. First, by the end of next harvest, at least 60 farms will have borrowed bin-clearing tools through the cooperative's lending program. Second, by the same date, 150 farms will have signed the cooperative's two-person entry pledge. Third, within twelve months, all four volunteer fire districts will have access to a grain rescue tube and at least four trained members each. Fourth, within twelve months, a near-miss reporting line will be operating and every FFA and 4-H member aged 12 to 18 in the county will have completed a one-hour bin safety session.

Layer One: Make Entry Less Necessary

The first layer changes the conditions that send people into bins. The cooperative will buy six sets of tools that let a worker break up crusted grain from the roof hatch while tied off, and lend them free during harvest. A tool that removes the reason to enter belongs to the context-changing tier that Frieden (2010) ranks above education. The cooperative will also promote a two-person pledge: farms that sign agree that nobody enters a bin without a second person outside and the unloading auger locked out. Signers receive a decal and a free lockout kit, which makes the pledge visible and practical.

Layer Two: Rescue Capacity

The second layer prepares for failures. Currently one fire district owns a rescue tube. The plan will buy two more, placed so that every district can reach one within twenty minutes, and will fund four members from each district to attend grain rescue training. Evaluations of the national course showed better test results among trained responders and some changes in department practice, along with lasting gaps (Cheng et al., 2024) in understanding certain hazards, so refresher drills each August will be part of the plan.

Layer Three: Learning From Near Misses

The third layer builds information. A short form, available at the cooperative office, fire stations and online, will let anyone report a near miss or rescue without names. The health department will review reports monthly with partners and share lessons in the cooperative newsletter. Cheng et al. (2018) noted that national surveillance depends on public sources, so local near-miss reports will also be shared with the national database with reporters' permission.

Layer Four: Young Workers

The fourth layer addresses the group most overrepresented nationally. FFA advisors and 4-H leaders will deliver a one-hour session before harvest, using a demonstration of how quickly grain flows and practicing how to say no to an unsafe request. Education sits at the top of Frieden's pyramid and is weaker on its own, which is why it comes last and builds on the other three layers rather than replacing them.

Who Does What

Coordination, data and evaluation fall to the health department. The grain cooperative will run the lending program and pledge. The four fire districts will host training and drills. The county extension office will provide materials and help reach farms that sell elsewhere. FFA and 4-H will deliver youth sessions. Castrucci (2021) describes the essential public health services as a shared language for explaining public health work, and here they help each partner see its part: the department assesses and convenes, while partners deliver services the department cannot.

Timeline and Budget

The plan runs for one year. Months one to three: partner agreements, purchase of tools and tubes and design of the reporting form. Months four to six: rescue training and youth sessions. Months seven to nine, the harvest: lending, pledges and drills. Months ten to twelve: evaluation and planning for year two. Table 1 shows the budget.

Table 1. First-Year Budget

Note. Proposed funding: state farm safety grant, cooperative contribution and county emergency management funds.

Ethics Check

The plan avoids mandates on private farms. Childress et al. (2002) suggest that public health should choose the least restrictive effective means, and a voluntary pledge backed by equipment and rescue capacity infringes on no one's liberty. The youth layer respects family decision making by teaching young workers how to raise concerns rather than instructing them to defy parents.

Evaluation

Process measures will count tools borrowed, pledges signed, firefighters trained, youth sessions held and near-miss reports received. Outcome measures will track entrapment incidents and deaths, though with such small numbers, change will take years to judge. A short survey of pledge farms after harvest will ask whether the tools and pledge changed how bins were handled. The health department will report results to partners and the county commission each year.

Conclusion

The plan answers each layer of risk with a practical response: tools and a pledge to reduce entries, rescue capacity for when prevention fails, a reporting line to learn from near misses and education for the youngest workers. It costs about as much as one used pickup truck and relies on institutions the county already trusts. Its success will be judged first by whether farmers use the tools and sign the pledge, and over time by whether the county goes a decade without another harvest funeral.

References

Castrucci, B. C. (2021). The "10 Essential Public Health Services" is the common framework needed to communicate about public health. American Journal of Public Health, 111(4), 598-599. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2021.306189

Cheng, Y.-H., Field, W. E., Issa, S. F., French, B. F., Ehlers, S. G., & Sheldon, E. J. (2024). Documenting baseline efficacy of grain rescue training for emergency first responders through pre- and post-testing, and follow-up survey. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 30(3), 123-138. https://doi.org/10.13031/jash.16012

Cheng, Y.-H., Field, W. E., Issa, S. F., Kelley, K., Heber, M., & Turner, R. (2018). Summary of U.S. injuries and fatalities involving entrapment and suffocation in grain transport vehicles. Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health, 24(2), 73-88. https://doi.org/10.13031/jash.12479

Childress, J. F., Faden, R. R., Gaare, R. D., Gostin, L. O., Kahn, J., Bonnie, R. J., Kass, N. E., Mastroianni, A. C., Moreno, J. D., & Nieburg, P. (2002). Public health ethics: Mapping the terrain. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, 30(2), 170-178. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2002.tb00384.x

Frieden, T. R. (2010). A framework for public health action: The health impact pyramid. American Journal of Public Health, 100(4), 590-595. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.185652