Silos are a key piece of equipment to help ensure that farm animals receive feed in optimum condition.
Just like any other equipment if silos are left unmaintained they can pose a risk to health and safety, Buildings and machinery need to be maintained and silos shouldn’t be treated any differently.
With good maintenance silos can be trusted to work safely and efficiently for a very long time.
But often silos are very often bottom of the farm maintenance schedule or in many cases not even on the schedule.
Without maintenance corrosion or accidental damage over time can affect the structural integrity of the silo. If corrosion or damage are left untreated or not repaired they can make the silo unsafe and in a worst-case scenario a risk to life. All types of silos - steel, fibre glass and GRP have steel support structures and all need regular inspection.
Fortunately to date there have been no serious injuries or fatalities reported in the UK from a silo failure although there have been near misses. Europe however has not been so lucky and failing silos have led to loss of life.
To help farmers manage any potential risk caused by unsafe silos an easy and free to use app has been developed. The app will help flag up any areas of concern and to prevent minor damage becoming worse and potentially critical. Using the app can help protect the silo, but more importantly using the app will help keep family, employees and visitors to the farm safe.
The app is suitable to assess all silos. Simply download SiloMOT from the app store. Register your silo and the app will guide you through a short survey to assess the critical structural elements of the silo. On completion a report will be produced outlining where remedial work is required to keep your silo safe and operational or giving your silo a clean bill of health.
As with other farm equipment this check needs to be undertaken annually or in the case of any incidental damage.
If remedial work is needed always use a person with the right skills and equipment to do the job safely. Often this could be a contractor.