Fifteen Minutes to Live: The Rescue Clock That Governs Every Climb Up a Farm Silo

Swiss safety rules spell out ladder dimensions, roof railings and a hard deadline for getting a fallen worker out of a harness — and inspectors are checking whether silo suppliers comply.

Anyone who has watched a farm worker scale a tall feed silo knows the climb is only half the story. The real danger begins at the top, and the rules governing that danger are detailed enough to fill a checklist: tread depth, guardrail counts, platform spacing and, most critically, a rescue window measured in minutes.

Guidance published in the Schweizer Bauernzeitung (Swiss Farmers' Newspaper) on 22 October 2026 sets out the full set of requirements, from how the ladder is built to what happens if someone ends up dangling in a fall-arrest harness. The stakes are high: work on high silos ranks among the most demanding jobs on any agricultural holding.

The ladder is where compliance starts

Technical requirements kick in before anyone reaches the roof. A high-silo ladder must have slip-resistant rungs and measure at least 40 cm across. Once a silo stands 5 m tall, a back guard becomes mandatory — and that guard has to start at a height of 3 m, so a backward fall is caught early.

Taller structures face further construction rules. Above 10 m, intermediate platforms are required at intervals of every 10 m. The ladder must also be offset rather than running straight up, a design that stops a misstep from turning into an uninterrupted fall through the full height of the shaft.

Detailed rules like these are only useful if they are written down and checked against reality — and that is exactly where many employers leave a gap. A free toolkit gives you 41 ready-to-use risk assessment templates and checklists, covering everything from working at height to lone working. Download the free Risk Assessment Toolkit

Roofs, walkways and the fill opening

Up top, the silo roof itself must be slip-resistant so workers can keep their footing. The working platform needs a railing made up of three rails. Where several silos of equal height stand side by side, they must be linked by a catwalk with railings on both sides — a measure meant to eliminate risky step-overs in the open air.

The fill opening is another hazard, acting as both a fall risk and a potential entrapment point. It must be effectively secured with one of three options: a railing, a net or a sturdy grille.

A 15-to-20-minute deadline

Should someone fall despite all of this and come to rest hanging in the safety rope, speed decides the outcome. Rescue must be completed within 15 to 20 minutes. Prolonged free hanging in a harness triggers suspension trauma — a potentially fatal condition that can lead to circulatory collapse.

Enforcement runs through Agriss, which carries out a spot-check programme on manufacturers and distributors of high and feed silos on behalf of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco). The requirements being checked are not new; they have been in force for four years.

A rescue plan is only one piece of the picture — inspectors also want to see that your wider safety duties are documented and up to date. A free Health & Safety Toolkit bundles ready-to-use risk assessments, checklists and toolbox talks covering working at height, PPE and first aid, already used by more than 37,000 UK businesses. Get the free Health & Safety Toolkit

Practical support is available too. A brochure titled "Sicher Arbeiten auf dem Hochsilo" ("Working Safely on the High Silo") — issued jointly by the Advisory Centre for Accident Prevention in Agriculture (BUL), Agrisafety and Agriss — offers detailed explanations and hands-on guidance. Farms are urged to review their existing installations against these standards on a regular basis and fix any shortcomings without delay.