A Wisconsin grain facility faces 14 workplace safety violation citations and more than $676,000 in penalties following the death of a following the engulfment death of a worker in a corn silo.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said it took emergency services nine hours to recover the body of the 52-year-old facility manager found engulfed in an unsafe silo operated by Didion Milling Inc. in Cambria, Wisconsin.
An OSHA investigation of the Dec. 8, 2020, fatality found that the manager entered the unsafe grain bin despite recently having an external process underway to remove corn from the clogged silo. OSHA also determined that the external process should have continued for several more days before allowing anyone to enter the grain bin.
The agency issued four willful and 10 serious safety citations, most involving requirements for safe entry into grain storage structures, and proposed $676,808 in penalties.
Didion Milling’s recent history includes a May 2017 explosion that killed five workers and injured as many as 15 others, and a large grain shelf collapse in October 2020 that nearly engulfed an employee who was cleaning the inside of a grain bin.
Sun Prairie-based Didion Milling has been in operation since 1972. The company operates a corn milling and biofuels facility in Cambria and production facilities in Markesan and Johnson Creek.
The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
Source: OSHA
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