Company Fined $261K After Worker Struck by Semi-Tractor-Trailer at Nebraska Grain Yard

Responding to an employer’s report that a worker needed hospitalization after being struck by a semi-tractor-trailer and suffering severe injuries at a Fremont, Nebraska grain yard, federal workplace safety inspectors identified 23 violations by the worker’s employer, including failing to protect workers from being struck by moving vehicles.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration learned a yard manager employed by Rail Modal Group LLC was directing congested traffic in a storage yard when a passing truck hit her on Jan. 2, 2024. The manager was on the job less than six months at the time.

The incident follows an OSHA investigation opened at the wholesale grain facility on Nov. 6, 2023, after the agency received allegations of unsafe working conditions, including exposure to struck-by vehicle hazards.

After its investigation, OSHA cited Rail Modal Group for violating the agency’s general duty cause for exposing workers to struck-by hazards.

In total, OSHA cited the company for 21 serious and two other-than-serious violations related to fall protection, permit-required confined spaces, machine guarding and powered industrial trucks. Inspectors also found the company did not meet OSHA’s grain-handling safety standards and failed to employ a hazardous communication program to train workers about hazardous material at the facility.

OSHA assessed the company $261,375 in proposed penalties.

Based in Latham, New York, Rail Modal Group provides supply-chain transportation solutions focused on protein and agricultural exports through key gateway ports. The company opened its first inland port terminal in Fremont, and later added facilities in Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.