The paper code cannot be redeemed when browsing in private/incognito mode. Please go to a normal browser window and enter the code there
This content is copyright protected!
However, if you would like to share the information in this article, you may use the headline, summary and link below:
Title: Seconds from slurry gas disaster on Galway farm
As farmers rush to beat the mid-October slurry deadline, lessons can be learned from the experience of Mike Broderick who lost two animals and very nearly his own life to slurry gas.
The reader loyalty code gives you full access to the site from when you enter it until the following Wednesday at 9pm. Find your unique code on the back page of Irish Country Living every week.
CODE ACCEPTED
You have full access to farmersjournal.ie on this browser until 9pm next Wednesday. Thank you for buying the paper and using the code.
CODE NOT VALID
Please try again or contact us.
For assistance, call 01 4199525
or email subs@farmersjournal.ie
If would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525
Reset password
Please enter your email address and we will send you a link to reset your password
If would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525
Link sent to your email address
We have sent an email to your address.
Please click on the link in this email to reset
your password. If you can't find it in your inbox,
please check your spam folder. If you can't
find the email, please call us on 01-4199525.
Email address not recognised
There is no subscription associated with this email
address. To read our subscriber-only content.
please subscribe or use the reader loyalty code.
If would like to speak to a member of our team, please call us on 01-4199525
You have no more free articles this month
We hope you've enjoyed your 6 free articles. To continue reading, sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe for just €1 to get unlimited access for 30 days.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe for just €1 to get unlimited access for 30 days.
This content is available to digital subscribers and loyalty code users only. Sign in to your account, use the code or subscribe for just €1 to get unlimited access for 30 days.
As farmers rush to beat the mid-October slurry deadline, lessons can be learned from the experience of Mike Broderick who lost two animals and very nearly his own life to slurry gas.
Mike Broderick farms just outside Portumna in Co Galway. A part-time dairy farmer, he is used to agitating and spreading slurry, having carried out the task for over 22 years on the farm incident-free. Re-living a day back in April 2014, when he lost two animals and almost lost his own life, Mike shares with us the chain of events that ultimately led to a slurry gas accident.
Overfull tanks
“I went down to look at the heifers in the shed that morning; everything was fine except for the slurry was very full in the tanks and coming up through the slats. I decided that the best way to get over this until the weekend came, was to stir it up with the agitator. I had carried out this job before and the levels of slurry always dropped down a few inches in the slats. I dropped the agitator into the tank and the slurry started to swirl a little. It looked like the job was going to work and the slurry drop down in the tank.”
Open sided shed
“The animals were left inside. In my mind it was fine to do this as the shed was open with good air movement. The hydrogen sulphide gas found in all tanks normally stays low to the ground as it is heavier than air. I looked down the shed and one of the heifers appeared to be staggering. That’s when all hell broke loose as four animals dropped to the ground. I knew I had a big problem on my hands.”
Focused on getting animals out
“All the advice is to get out and stay out if you suspect slurry gas to be a problem. That was not the case for me – my natural instinct to save the animals took over. Adrenalin was flowing and I ran down opened the gates to let the animals go. Reaching down I managed to pull the heads of the other two animals up off the slats and on to the top of the two dead animals. I physically pushed another animal over the timber barrier out of the shed. I had lost two heifers. I went to ring a neighbour for help and realised I had no phone. I ran back to the house and I noticed my chest tightening, dizziness and a shortness of breath. I got to the back door where my wife met me and I was hardly able to speak. From there I was rushed to hospital. My wife thought I was dying along with the animals. I had inhaled a percentage of the gas every time I bent over to help an animal. Luckily I did not inhale one complete mouthful or I was a goner. A few more seconds is all the time I had left. Leaving the phone behind that day may be the one thing that actually saved me.
What went wrong for Mike?
Having carried out this type of work for 22 years, Mike never had a problem. So why did it happen this time? We look at some of the factors.
1 Slurry was high in the tank, pushing gas levels higher up also. Workload demands were high at the time. The first chance to empty the tank was on the following Saturday as Mike works full-time outside the farm.
2 Mike noticed afterwards that the wind direction had changed slightly from the normal position, reducing the air movement inside the shed.
3 The slurry levels dropped and Mike perceived the job to be working well, when he was actually releasing hydrogen sulphide gas into the shed with the animals.
4 When the animals went down, he never stopped the agitator, it stayed churning around the slurry while he and the animals battled for survival.
5 Hydrogen sulphide gas levels are highest about 10-15 minutes after agitation starts and up to 30 minutes after that.
Hydrogen sulphide is a clear gas that is slightly heavier than air. This means that it will not disperse but stays low to the ground, especially when there is no air movement. At low concentrations of fewer than 50 atmospheric parts per million (ppm), the gas is recognisable as the characteristic smell of rotten eggs. The problem is however, that you rapidly lose your ability to smell it, so you may think it is not present. Exposure to concentrations above 500ppm causes confusion, disorientation, rapid collapse and it can kill in seconds where concentration is above 700ppm. Such concentrations are not uncommon at slat level within animal enclosures.
The gas release is greatest in the first 10-15 minutes of mixing. The concentrations are particularly high where the slurry has been stored and decomposing over a number of months and a crust has been trapping the gases pre-agitation.
Slurry gas detectors
The HSA does not recommend the use of devices like these. Concerns exist over calibration levels, and the use by individual operators who wear the devices while at work. It may well be too late to take any remedial action to get away from the toxic gas when the alarm sounds, if it can be heard over the tractor and agitator.
Mike’s plans to make agitating slurry safer
Shed design needs to be looked at according to Mike, having a holding bay outside that allows the animals to be collected easily and held while agitation is in progress.
Internal gas detectors could work very well if installed correctly. Fitting them at the right height and protected from animals is a must. The alarm warning should be very audible like a security alarm that can be heard over a tractor in the yard.
Mike Broderick farms just outside Portumna in Co Galway. A part-time dairy farmer, he is used to agitating and spreading slurry, having carried out the task for over 22 years on the farm incident-free. Re-living a day back in April 2014, when he lost two animals and almost lost his own life, Mike shares with us the chain of events that ultimately led to a slurry gas accident.
Overfull tanks
“I went down to look at the heifers in the shed that morning; everything was fine except for the slurry was very full in the tanks and coming up through the slats. I decided that the best way to get over this until the weekend came, was to stir it up with the agitator. I had carried out this job before and the levels of slurry always dropped down a few inches in the slats. I dropped the agitator into the tank and the slurry started to swirl a little. It looked like the job was going to work and the slurry drop down in the tank.”
Open sided shed
“The animals were left inside. In my mind it was fine to do this as the shed was open with good air movement. The hydrogen sulphide gas found in all tanks normally stays low to the ground as it is heavier than air. I looked down the shed and one of the heifers appeared to be staggering. That’s when all hell broke loose as four animals dropped to the ground. I knew I had a big problem on my hands.”
Focused on getting animals out
“All the advice is to get out and stay out if you suspect slurry gas to be a problem. That was not the case for me – my natural instinct to save the animals took over. Adrenalin was flowing and I ran down opened the gates to let the animals go. Reaching down I managed to pull the heads of the other two animals up off the slats and on to the top of the two dead animals. I physically pushed another animal over the timber barrier out of the shed. I had lost two heifers. I went to ring a neighbour for help and realised I had no phone. I ran back to the house and I noticed my chest tightening, dizziness and a shortness of breath. I got to the back door where my wife met me and I was hardly able to speak. From there I was rushed to hospital. My wife thought I was dying along with the animals. I had inhaled a percentage of the gas every time I bent over to help an animal. Luckily I did not inhale one complete mouthful or I was a goner. A few more seconds is all the time I had left. Leaving the phone behind that day may be the one thing that actually saved me.
What went wrong for Mike?
Having carried out this type of work for 22 years, Mike never had a problem. So why did it happen this time? We look at some of the factors.
1 Slurry was high in the tank, pushing gas levels higher up also. Workload demands were high at the time. The first chance to empty the tank was on the following Saturday as Mike works full-time outside the farm.
2 Mike noticed afterwards that the wind direction had changed slightly from the normal position, reducing the air movement inside the shed.
3 The slurry levels dropped and Mike perceived the job to be working well, when he was actually releasing hydrogen sulphide gas into the shed with the animals.
4 When the animals went down, he never stopped the agitator, it stayed churning around the slurry while he and the animals battled for survival.
5 Hydrogen sulphide gas levels are highest about 10-15 minutes after agitation starts and up to 30 minutes after that.
Hydrogen sulphide is a clear gas that is slightly heavier than air. This means that it will not disperse but stays low to the ground, especially when there is no air movement. At low concentrations of fewer than 50 atmospheric parts per million (ppm), the gas is recognisable as the characteristic smell of rotten eggs. The problem is however, that you rapidly lose your ability to smell it, so you may think it is not present. Exposure to concentrations above 500ppm causes confusion, disorientation, rapid collapse and it can kill in seconds where concentration is above 700ppm. Such concentrations are not uncommon at slat level within animal enclosures.
The gas release is greatest in the first 10-15 minutes of mixing. The concentrations are particularly high where the slurry has been stored and decomposing over a number of months and a crust has been trapping the gases pre-agitation.
Slurry gas detectors
The HSA does not recommend the use of devices like these. Concerns exist over calibration levels, and the use by individual operators who wear the devices while at work. It may well be too late to take any remedial action to get away from the toxic gas when the alarm sounds, if it can be heard over the tractor and agitator.
Mike’s plans to make agitating slurry safer
Shed design needs to be looked at according to Mike, having a holding bay outside that allows the animals to be collected easily and held while agitation is in progress.
Internal gas detectors could work very well if installed correctly. Fitting them at the right height and protected from animals is a must. The alarm warning should be very audible like a security alarm that can be heard over a tractor in the yard.
Farmers who installed renewable energy systems on their farms between 2009 and 2014, such as small-scale wind turbines, are losing out on thousands due to the delayed rollout of smart meters
As the weather picks up and workload increases, Teagasc is urging farmers to keep an eye on farm safety.
Save to a collection
Recent collections
This article has already been saved
This article has been saved
Create a collection
Subscriber only
This content is available to digital subscribers only. Sign in to your account or subscribe for just €1 to get unlimited access for 30 days.SIGN INSUBSCRIBE FOR €1
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: