In this episode we dive into what we believe to be sanitation's top risks. As always, these are one take, so they're raw with no scripts, and no idea what the other host will say. We hope you enjoy, including the brief detour into Joe's fear of heights and Glacier National Park... If it helped you, please like and share, it truly does help! Full episode description/summary below:

In this episode of Safe. Efficient. Profitable, the hosts dig into what sanitation safety really looks like when the plant shuts down, production leaves, and the “normal rules” quietly change. This isn’t a textbook discussion of OSHA buzzwords — it’s a hard-earned, experience-driven breakdown of the risks that actually hurt people during sanitation.

Rather than rattling off every possible hazard, the conversation focuses on the top three sanitation safety risks the hosts see over and over again in real facilities — plus one bonus risk that often gets ignored entirely.

1. Elevated Work:
The number one risk? Elevated work during sanitation. Not the clean, planned kind with proper lifts and fall protection — but the improvised kind that happens when equipment was never designed to be cleaned.

2. Lockout/Tagout Isn’t Simple

Sanitation introduces multiple risks at the same time, and lockout procedures that work during the day don’t always hold up at night. The hosts stress the importance of evaluating how lockout is actually performed, not just whether a policy exists.

3. Training: The Control That Fails Quietly

Why didn’t they pick confined space or ladder safety as a top risk? Because in their experience, training is the real control behind all of it.
Training needs to address the job function, not just the task. Workers need to know what to do when things don't go as planned or the unexpected happens.

Bonus Risk: Sleep, Fatigue, and Real Life
The hosts feel that fatigue has to be treated as a real safety variable, not an afterthought. Night-shift sanitation can’t be managed exactly like day-shift production — buffers and controls need to reflect human limits.

The Bottom Line

Sanitation is a different animal. Different risks. Different timing. If you want safer outcomes, you have to evaluate sanitation on its own terms.

As always, the hosts encourage listeners to take what’s helpful, leave the rest, and share the episode with anyone who might benefit — especially those who haven’t had these experiences yet.

Key Takeaways

Elevated work during sanitation is often improvised and underestimated

Lockout/tagout becomes more complex at night with multiple energy sources

Most sanitation incidents trace back to training gaps, not rule-breaking

Training must cover job function, not just task steps

Fatigue and sleep deprivation are real, measurable sanitation risks

Sanitation cannot be managed like production — it requires its own lens

This episode is intended for educational purposes. Solutions offered are not designed to take the place of an attorney or medical professional, and should not be taken as legal or medical advice. It is recommended that viewers consult a safety consultant, medical provider or an occupational safety legal team as applicable to help navigate their specific circumstances.

This month we’re tackling one of the most cited OSHA topics out there — Lockout/Tagout (LOTO). If your company has a program that checks all of the audit boxes, but your employees are still having injuries, this episode explains why.

⚙️ Top 3 LOTO Problems We’re Seeing in the Field

1️⃣ Bad or outdated templates.
If your LOTO template or format is wrong, every single lockout procedure built from it can have problems.

2️⃣ Verification is clear as mud
“Verify” doesn’t mean much if no one knows how, where, or who does it. Joint verification? Remote lockout? Elevated disconnects? If your verification step creates more hazards, your program gaps.

3️⃣ Confusion about when LOTO actually applies.
Some equipment can fall into gray zones where employees “sort of” lock out or skip steps altogether. That’s how culture gaps start. Its important to align your training, your task steps, and your documentation, with a focus on risk reduction, not perceived "faster" ways.

💡 Bonus : Validate Procedures During Retraining

Your annual lockout/tagout retraining is one of the best times to validate your procedures. Walk the floor with your maintenance team, observe how employees actually perform the work, and capture those missed hazards like residual pressure, gravity, or access height risks.

🧰 Why It Matters

You can have a binder full of lockout procedures and still have injuries.
A strong LOTO program isn’t just compliance — it has to be customized for your facility.

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📈 Keywords for SEO

Lockout Tagout Safety, LOTO Training, OSHA Compliance, Machine Guarding, Energy Isolation, Verification Step, Safety Culture, Manufacturing Safety, Industrial Safety, Food Plant Safety, Safety Leadership, Maintenance Safety, Allen Safety, Safety Program Audit, Hazard Control, Employee Safety, Safety Podcast, Allen Safety Coaching, Confined Space Safety, OSHA 1910.147

🔖 Hashtags

#LockoutTagout #LOTO #SafetyTraining #WorkplaceSafety #AllenSafety #SafetyCulture #OSHACompliance #IndustrialSafety #ManufacturingSafety #SafetyPodcast #EnergyIsolation #HazardControl



This video is intended for educational purposes. Solutions offered are not designed to take the place of an attorney or medical professional, and should not be taken as legal or medical advice. It is recommended that viewers consult a safety consultant, medical provider or an occupational safety legal team as applicable to help navigate their specific circumstances.

For educational purposes, videos may show the inside of manufacturing facilities, including meat and poultry production facilities, commercial farming, feed milling, and petrochemical facilities. Images shown may depict individual lines and show trained employees working in their daily jobs, however these visuals may not be suitable for all audiences. Specific job tasks shown are being completed by trained professionals, and should not be attempted without proper training and equipment under the supervision of a professional. Viewer discretion is advised.

A good part of our career has been spent in ag-business/agribusiness operations, with a huge part of them being at feed mills- for both day and night shifts. This episode covers a few big ticket items that we routinely see. This list can help raise a red flag that there may be some significant risk that can lead to an injury on the horizon. We hope this helps!

Summary
In this episode of Safe, Efficient, Profitable, Joe and Jen break down mill safety risks. Core themes and topics discussed: housekeeping & dust control, bin cleanouts and confined space, alone-worker protocols & site security, auger/elevator hazards, and lockout/tagout realities. They emphasize seasonality (winter/ice, summer humidity, harvest chaos), contractor scheduling, and how documentation (permits) exposes program gaps.

Action Checklist (use on your next mill walkthrough)

Verify dust/housekeeping program- anything requiring contractors, coordinate to manage seasons & contractor/part lead times.

Spot-check bearings/heat and guard integrity at augers, hammer mills, headhouses etc

Review the last 5 confined space permits —do training, equipment, and rescue plans line up? If not, give us a call! www.allen-safety.com

Evaluate alone worker processes, check site security (fences, locks, access points near rail lines) and work in a plan to tighten things down where you're able.

Walk equipment that routinely must be cleaned out, troubleshooting is required, jams, etc and validate LOTO is correct- where to apply the lock, how and who is checking for power.

Safety Training and Training-Style Floor-Based Safety Audits/Evals: Allen-Safety.com
Online safety training: AllenSafetyCoaching.com

Please Like & Share to support us putting out this free worker-safety content.

SEO Keywords:

mill safety

feed mill safety

grain mill hazards

confined space in mills

auger safety

lockout tagout LOTO

housekeeping dust control

Secondary (long-tail / intent-rich):

mill housekeeping program for combustible dust

bin cleanout confined space rescue plan

rural mill security and lone-worker policy

elevator leg maintenance and guarding checks

MCC room lockout tagout without local disconnect

receiving pit confined space classification

seasonal mill safety winter ice and harvest

bearing heat monitoring in mills

dust program

hammer mills

augers

feed mill safety checklist

safety for small crews

This video is intended for educational purposes. Solutions offered are not designed to take the place of an attorney or medical professional, and should not be taken as legal or medical advice. It is recommended that viewers consult a safety consultant, medical provider or an occupational safety legal team as applicable to help navigate their specific circumstances.

For educational purposes, videos may show the inside of manufacturing facilities, including meat and poultry production facilities, commercial farming, feed milling, and petrochemical facilities. Images shown may depict individual lines and show trained employees working in their daily jobs, however these visuals may not be suitable for all audiences. Specific job tasks shown are being completed by trained professionals, and should not be attempted without proper training and equipment under the supervision of a professional. Viewer discretion is advised.