Following a rash of deaths and injuries of workers trapped in grain storage facilities, federal authorities are warning grain companies to comply with federal safety laws.
In a letter sent to grain elevator operators Wednesday, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said it will consider seeking criminal prosecutions, in addition to civil penalties, against employers responsible for fatal accidents.
“OSHA has found that grain entrapments generally occur because of employer negligence, non-compliance with OSHA standards, and/or poor safety and health practices,” the letter said.
The agency, the letter added, has investigated “several cases involving worker entry into grain storage bins where we have found that the employer was aware of the hazards and of OSHA’s standards, but failed to train or protect the workers entering the bin.”
During 2009 alone, the letter noted, researchers at Purdue University documented 38 cases of workers being trapped in grain storage facilities. The accidents often occur when the downward force created by the emptying of a grain bin sucks in, and buries, workers within seconds.
The action follows last week’s accident in Illinois that left two teenagers dead and an adult in serious condition.
OSHA officials said the accident would have been prevented if the employer properly equipped the workers with lifelines or harnesses.
In its warning to grain elevator operators, OSHA cited recent cases in which it has imposed fines. That included Wednesday’s move to fine Cooperative Plus Inc. in Burlington, Wis., $721,000 for a February accident in which a worker was trapped in soybeans up to his chest in 25 degree weather until being rescued four hours later. In May, OSHA fined a South Dakota Wheat Growers Association $1.6 million. In that case, a worker suffocated in a grain bin and, the agency said, the company failed to adequately equip the five workers who went in to save him.
Related Links: Illinois Grain Suffocation Deaths Preventable, Officials Say
Lea Yu reports that OSHA “said it will consider seeking criminal prosecutions, in addition to civil penalties, against employers responsible for fatal accidents” involving workers in grain storage facilities. When people die as the result of gross recklessness and negligence of others, the deaths may meet the criteria for prosecution as negligent homicide. Are the States Attorneys looking into these deaths? IF the evidence shows these deaths to be negligent homicides, I wouldn’t call them “accidents.”
Grain elevators are an error where I feel employers could use more guidance. I doesn’t seem like their are a lot of regulations or resources to help in that area.
Another death just occurred in Taft, Texas. An employee was killed in November after suffocating in a grain elevator while working for the grain elevator company!