Jennie-O Turkey Store Inc. was cited by OSHA for 11 safety violations after a worker’s arm was amputated below the shoulder while the individual was conducting cleaning activities in a confined space. Jennie-O Turkey Store, based in Willmar, MN is a division of Austin, MN headquartered Hormel Foods Corp.
“Jennie-O Turkey Store has a legal responsibility to follow established permit-required confined space regulations to ensure that its employees are properly protected from known workplace hazards,” said Mark Hysell, director of OSHA’s Eau Claire Area Office. “Failing to ensure protection through appropriate training and adherence to OSHA regulations led to a worker losing an arm.”
OSHA initiated an inspection after the July 20, 2011, incident, in which the employee’s arm allegedly became caught in an energized turkey shackle line while the employee was working alone in a confined space. Afterward, the employee had to walk down a flight of 25 stairs and 200 feet across the production floor to get the attention of a co-worker for assistance.
Four willful violations involve not following OSHA’s permit-required confined space regulations in the carbon dioxide tunnel room, including failing to ensure that workers isolated the carbon dioxide gas supply line and locked out power to the shackle line prior to entering the room to conduct cleaning activities, verify that electro-mechanical and atmospheric hazards within the room were eliminated prior to workers entering the space, test atmospheric conditions prior to allowing entry and provide an attendant during entries to the room. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or plain indifference to employee safety and health.
Seven serious violations involve failing to provide fall protection, provide rescue and emergency services equipment, develop procedures to summon rescue and emergency services, provide confined space entry procedures, prepare entry permits for the confined space, train employees and supervisors in entry permit procedures, and ensure that the entry supervisor performed required duties. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
In many instances, employees who work in confined spaces face risk of exposure to serious physical injury from hazards such as entrapment, engulfment and hazardous atmospheric conditions. Confinement may also pose entrapment hazards and require employees to work in closer proximity to hazardous machinery components than they would otherwise. Additional information on confined space hazards is available online at http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/confinedspaces/index.html.
Based on the violations cited during this latest inspection, OSHA has proposed $318,000 in fines. Jennie–O Turkey Store operates turkey growing and processing facilities in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as national and international distribution systems. The company employs 1,200 workers at the Barron facility and 5,000 corporatewide. Prior to this inspection, OSHA had inspected the Barron facility four times since 2004, resulting in citations for 12 violations.
Workers Exposed to Excessive Noise, Lack of Machine Guarding, and Other Hazards
OSHA cited American Marazzi Tile Inc. with 25 safety and health violations for exposing workers to excessive noise levels, machine guarding hazards, and other dangerous conditions at its facility in Sunnyvale, TX. Proposed penalties total $318,000.
OSHA’s Dallas Area Office initiated an investigation on July 13 at the company’s Clay Road facility as part of the agency’s Site-Specific Targeting Program, which directs enforcement resources to workplaces with higher-than-average injury and illness rates.
“This company knowingly failed to implement necessary safety and health programs to protect employees from coming into contact with moving parts of machinery and prevent hearing loss,” said John Hermanson, OSHA’s regional administrator in Dallas. “It’s the employer’s responsibility to know the hazards and safeguard workers from these hazards in order to provide a working environment free of injuries and illnesses.”
Three willful violations involve failing to establish and maintain a hearing conservation program for workers exposed to noise levels exceeding 85 decibels; provide the required machine guards for exposed belts, pulleys, chains and sprockets; and establish a lockout/tagout program for energy sources to protect workers from the unexpected start up of machinery. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
Twenty-one serious violations involve failing to provide personal protective equipment, provide confined space training, provide machine guarding to prevent workers from coming into contact with rotating parts, develop energy control procedures for machines with more than one energy source, provide fire extinguisher training, properly store oxygen and acetylene cylinders, develop a bloodborne pathogens program, and train employees on hazardous chemicals used in the facility. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
One other-than-serious violation is for failing to post a copy of the hearing conservation standard in the workplace. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
American Marazzi Tile employs about 254 workers who produce ceramic wall and floor tile products at the Sunnyvale location. OSHA has placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which mandates targeted follow-up inspections to ensure compliance with the law. Initiated in June 2010, the program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. For more information on SVEP, visit http://s.dol.gov/J3.
OSHA cited Resource Management Cos. at its Earth City, MO recycling facility for 37 safety and health violations. An inspection was opened after a worker died from injuries sustained on June 12 when he entered a baling machine to clear a jam and it became energized. Proposed fines total $195,930.
“Resource Management Cos. has a responsibility to ensure that its workers are protected from hazardous working conditions, especially ones related to dangerous equipment such as baling machines,” said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. “Employers are required by law to ensure that work environments are safe and healthful. OSHA is committed to protecting workers on the job, especially when employers fail to do so.”
Twenty-two serious safety violations have been cited, including failing to lock out and tag out the energy sources of equipment and install adequate machine guarding. They also involve hazards related to fall protection, exits, flammable liquids, fire extinguishers, powered industrial trucks, and welding and electrical equipment. Additionally, eight serious health violations involve inadequate housekeeping, excessive noise, improper personal protective equipment, permit required space program, and blood borne pathogens hazards. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
One repeat safety violation has been cited relating to defective powered industrial trucks that were not taken out of service. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The company was cited in April 2010 for a similar violation.
Six other-than-serious safety and health violations have been cited, involving egress, fire extinguisher, personal protective equipment and hazard communications deficiencies. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.
What is Considered “Timely Manner” When it Comes to Confined Space Rescue?
Scenario: You have started a new job as a safety manager for a company that has chemical storage tanks on its property. From time to time employees must enter these vessels to conduct routine maintenance and cleaning. When it comes to rescue involving these entries, your predecessor evaluated and selected the local fire department using the guidance provided in Appendix F of the PRCS standard, Rescue Team or Rescue Service Evaluation Criteria (Non-mandatory). Your predecessor determined that the local fire department was adequately trained and equipped to perform permit space rescues of the kind needed at your facility. He even had the fire department in at least once a year to make a performance evaluation of the service during a practice rescue. Your concerns are that the local fire department many be unable to perform their rescue duties in a timely manner and cannot guarantee that they will not be sent on another call during your permit space entry operations.
You raise this issue with your superior and are told: “We have relied on the fire department here for years, and we aren’t going to change this practice unless you can prove we need to.”
Question: If your employer has selected this local fire department as its off-site rescue service, is your employer in compliance with 29 CFR 1910.146(k)(1) when it comes to the “timely manner” requirement? Is there another OSHA standard that may be more helpful in answering this question?
Answer: The standard at 29 CFR 1910.146(k)(1) provides:
(1) An employer who designates rescue and emergency services, pursuant to paragraph (d)(9) of this section, shall:
(i) Evaluate a prospective rescuer’s ability to respond to a rescue summons in a timely manner, considering the hazard(s) identified;
Note to paragraph (k)(1)(i): What will be considered timely will vary according to the specific hazards involved in each entry. For example, §1910.134, Respiratory Protection, requires that employers provide a standby person or persons capable of immediate action to rescue employee(s) wearing respiratory protection while in work areas defined as IDLH atmospheres.
The standard goes on to say in (k)(1)(iii)(A) to select a rescue team or service that has the capability to reach the victim(s) within a time frame that is appropriate for the permit space hazard(s) identified.
In the Preamble to the revisions made to this standard in 1998, there is some additional language that may be helpful. Just as stated in the note to (k)(1)(i) OSHA is going to utilize the respiratory protection standard in 1910.134(g)(3) that requires standby rescue personnel when employees are working in atmospheres that are immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH).
Immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH) in the respiratory protection standard means an atmosphere that poses an immediate threat to life, would cause irreversible adverse health effects, or would impair an individual’s ability to escape from a dangerous atmosphere.
Whereas “Immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH)” in the Permit Required Confined Space goes into a little more detail stating it means any condition that poses an immediate or delayed threat to life or that would cause irreversible adverse health effects or that would interfere with an individual’s ability to escape unaided from a permit space. Which is followed by a note stating some materials — hydrogen fluoride gas and cadmium vapor, for example — may produce immediate transient effects that, even if severe, may pass without medical attention, but are followed by sudden, possibly fatal collapse 12-72 hours after exposure. The victim “feels normal” from recovery from transient effects until collapse. Such materials in hazardous quantities are considered to be “immediately” dangerous to life or health.
Keep in mind an oxygen deficient atmosphere would also be considered an IDLH atmosphere.OSHA believes it is clear that the atmosphere in a permit space where an entrant could suffer irreversible impairment within four to six minutes would meet the definition of an IDLH atmosphere: According to the Respiratory Protection standard1910.134(g)(3) it states when employees enter such a space, the employer must ensure that one employee, or when needed, more than one employee is located outside the IDLH atmosphere and the employee(s) located outside the IDLH atmosphere are trained and equipped to provide effective emergency rescue. Or, the employer must be able to provide non-entry rescue of the entrant.
The preamble goes on to state OSHA believes that compliance with these requirements will enable the employer to begin rescue operations more quickly than rescue team members arriving from another location.
Remember that whether inside or outside the plant, responding rescuers would need to gather appropriate equipment, prepare to use that equipment, and be briefed on the emergency situation before beginning rescue operations. Because the standby personnel must be appropriately trained and equipped to perform rescue operations, other inadequately prepared employees will be less likely to endanger themselves by attempting hasty and dangerous rescues while the employer is waiting for outside rescuers to arrive. OSHA does recognize that because the Respiratory Protection standard requirement only applies to IDLH atmospheres, a less resource-intensive and more measured response capability may be used for those situations where there is not the same need for virtually instant response. So, the word “timely” is not clearly defined, but will be based on the particular circumstances and hazards of each confined space which the employer enters.
FREEPORT, Texas – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Texas Barge & Boat Inc. for one willful and 39 serious violations following the deaths of two workers from a fire at the company’s facility in Freeport, where boats and barges are repaired.
“It is critical that air monitoring is conducted when employees perform cutting operations in confined and enclosed spaces,” said Mark Briggs, director of OSHA’s Houston South Area Office. “This accident possibly could have been avoided if the company had followed OSHA’s standards.”
OSHA initiated a safety and health inspection on April 2 following a report from the local sheriff’s department that an explosion had occurred and two workers were missing at the company’s facility on East Floodgate Road. Nine employees were performing cutting and fire watch operations inside the hopper space, an area between the cargo hold and the bottom plate of the vessel, with limited means of entry and exit when the flash fire occurred.
The willful violation was cited for failing to conduct air monitoring tests prior to employees entering the confined and enclosed spaces to perform oxygen and fuel gas cutting operations. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health.
The serious violations involve failing to provide fall protection around the perimeter of the barge and around manholes, ensure compressed gas cylinders were secured, ensure proper electrical wiring was installed, ensure circuit breakers were labeled, provide respirator fit-testing, inspect oxygen and acetylene hoses, and develop a fire safety plan. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
Queensbury, NY, location hit for $57 Grand and OSHA urges the Pennsylvania-based retailer to examine safety at their other stores
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Dick’s Sporting Goods for six alleged violations of workplace safety standards after an OSHA inspection identified several hazards at the retailer’s store at the Aviation Mall in Queensbury. The Pennsylvania-based retailer faces a total of $57,300 in proposed fines.
OSHA inspectors found that workers at the Queensbury store were periodically required to enter a trash compactor that had not first been de-energized in order to remove cardboard blockages. Additionally, the store lacked the means and procedures for employees to enter and work safely in such a confined space, and training was not provided on the hazards and safeguards associated with work in a confined space. Finally, access to fire extinguishers was blocked and employees were not trained in how to use fire extinguishers in the event of a fire.
“Even in a retail outlet, employees can be exposed to deadly or disabling hazards if the proper safeguards and training are absent, as they were here,” said Edward Jerome, OSHA’s area director in Albany. “These workers could have been crushed or burned. For the safety and health of all of its employees, I urge this employer to examine safety and health issues at its other stores and promptly take corrective action.”
Two repeat violations with $33,000 in fines were cited for the blocked fire extinguishers and lack of fire extinguisher training. Four serious violations with $24,300 in fines were cited for the confined space hazards and a missing fire extinguisher.
A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. In this case, the repeat citations stem from OSHA having cited the retailer in May 2010 for similar hazards at a Melville, N.Y., store.
“One means of preventing hazards such as these is for employers to establish an injury and illness prevention program in which workers and management continually work to identify and eliminate hazardous conditions,” said Robert Kulick, OSHA’s regional administrator in New York.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Pallflex Co. in Connecticut for 29 alleged violations of workplace safety and health standards at its Putnam manufacturing plant. The filter manufacturer faces a total of $121,650 in proposed fines following a comprehensive OSHA inspection opened in January.
“The sizable penalties proposed here reflect the breadth and severity of the conditions found during this inspection,” said Paul Mangiafico, OSHA’s area director in Hartford. “Left uncorrected, they expose employees to injury, illness or death from falls, lacerations, being caught in moving machinery, electrocution, fire, hearing loss, or being overcome by an oxygen-deficient or toxic atmosphere while working in a confined space. Effective steps must be taken to correct these conditions and prevent their recurrence.”
OSHA’s inspection identified a variety of hazards that can occur in a manufacturing environment, resulting in citations for 24 serious violations carrying $120,650 in proposed fines. They include fall hazards from unguarded tank platforms; improper storage and dispensing of flammable liquids; inadequate personal protective equipment; lack of a confined space program and procedures to safeguard workers who enter storage tanks; no annual fire extinguisher training; unguarded operating machine parts; several electrical-related hazards; lack of a hearing conservation program; and failure to perform initial formaldehyde exposure monitoring.
Additionally, five other-than-serious violations with $1,000 were cited, including improperly maintained OSHA illness and injury logs.
OSHA cites Shawnee, OK milling company $146,000 for 25 serious workplace violations
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Shawnee Milling Co. with 25 alleged serious violations following an inspection at the company’s facility in Shawnee that found multiple safety and health hazards. Proposed penalties total $146,000.
“An employer’s failure to effectively implement OSHA’s regulations exposes workers to potential hazards that could lead to serious injuries or death. Such safety and health violations will not be tolerated,” said David Bates, OSHA’s area director in Oklahoma City.
OSHA’s Oklahoma City Area Office began its investigation Nov. 23, 2010, at the company’s facility on South Broadway Street. About 276 workers produce consumer products such as flour, cornmeal and animal feed at the facility.
The violations include failing to properly reclassify confined spaces from permit-required to non-permit-required, to have the mandatory confined space entry permits, to provide adequate respirators to employees for emergency evacuation in the event of toxic chemical release, to provide an adequate lockout/tagout program of energy sources and to provide required machine guarding.
US Department of Labor’s OSHA cites Parker Hannifin facility in Mississippi with 33 safety and health violations, proposes more than $487,000 in fines
Federal OSHA has issued 33 citations to the Parker Hannifin Corp. plant in Batesville, alleging numerous safety and health violations as the result of an inspection that began November 2010. Proposed penalties total $487,700. Cleveland, Ohio-based Parker Hannifin has 170 facilities throughout the U.S. and manufactures machinery for hydraulics, air conditioning, refrigeration and aerospace systems.
OSHA issued 16 repeat citations with $407,000 in fines. Fifteen are safety-related and cover such violations as allowing the air pressure to exceed more than 30 pounds per square inch for cleaning equipment, failing to conduct periodic inspections of the lockout/tagout process in place to prevent accidental energy start-up, failing to train workers on lockout/tagout procedures, failing to unblock exit doors and routes, failing to provide machine guarding and failing to correct electrical deficiencies. One health-related violation was cited for failing to attach hazardous warning labels to five dipping tanks that contained hazardous substances such as potassium hydroxide and isoparaffinic hydrocarbon. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years. The repeat violations are based on previous inspections conducted at other company locations, including a facility in Olive Branch.
OSHA issued 17 serious citations with $80,700 in fines. Fifteen are safety-related and include such violations as exposing employees to struck-by hazards due to a defective safety latch on a hoist and damaged hooks on an overhead crane; allowing unapproved electrical equipment to be used in a hazardous location where flammable chemicals were present; failing to remove and replace spiral stairs with a conventional stairways; failing to post signage indicating the direction of travel to the nearest exit; failing to provide a danger permit-required confined space sign; failing to mark a web sling with the rated load capacity; and failing to require workers to wear goggles or suitable eye protection while welding. Two health-related citations cover failing to establish an effective hearing program and to provide personal protective equipment. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.
“Companies that cut corners at the expense of worker safety must be held accountable,” said OSHA Assistant Secretary Dr. David Michaels. “In this case, Parker Hannifin not only failed to make safety its top priority, but the company ignored many violations that OSHA previously had brought to its attention.”
US Labor Department cites two Illinois grain elevator operators for willful safety, child labor violations following deaths of three workers, including two teens
The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Haasbach LLC in Mount Carroll and Hillsdale Elevator Co. in Geneseo and Annawan, Ill., following the deaths of three workers, including two teenagers. The workers were killed when they suffocated after being engulfed by grain.
“The tragic deaths of three people could have been prevented had the grain bin owners and operators followed the occupational safety standards and child labor laws,” said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “It is unconscionable to allow a minor to work in any high-hazard area. Haasbach’s and Hillsdale’s disregard for the law and commonsense safety practices has led to devastation for three families.”
At least 25 U.S. workers were killed in grain entrapments last year, and the numbers of entrapments are increasing, according to researchers at Purdue University. There were more grain entrapments in 2010 than in any year since they started collecting data on entrapments in 1978.
“Grain entrapments kill workers. All employers, especially those in high-hazard industries, must prevent workers from being hurt or killed as a result of recognized hazards,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. “There is absolutely no excuse for any worker to be killed in this type of incident.”
The fines to both companies total $1,352,125. Haasbach was issued 24 citations from the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration with a penalty of $555,000 following an investigation into the deaths of the two young workers, Wyatt Whitebread and Alex Pacas (ages 14 and 19 years old, respectively), at the company’s grain elevator in Mount Carroll. A 20-year-old man also was seriously injured in the July 2010 incident when all three became entrapped in corn more than 30 feet deep. At the time of the incident, the workers were “walking down the corn” to make it flow while machinery used for evacuating the grain was running.
The department’s Wage and Hour Division’s separate investigation found that Haasbach violated the Fair Labor Standards Act’s Child Labor standards for employing anyone less than 18 years of age to perform hazardous jobs prohibited by the act. As a result, the division issued Haasbach $68,125 in civil money penalties. More information on child labor rules and hazardous occupations can be found at http://www.dol.gov/elaws.
Hillsdale Elevator was issued 22 citations by OSHA following the death of a 49-year-old worker, Raymond Nowland, who was engulfed by corn in a storage bin at the company’s facility in Geneseo. OSHA discovered additional violations during a later inspection of the company’s Annawan facility. Consequently, OSHA issued the company $729,000 in fines.
Since 2009, OSHA has fined grain operators in Illinois, Colorado, South Dakota and Wisconsin following similar preventable fatalities and injuries. In addition to enforcement actions, OSHA sent a notification letter to grain elevator operators warning them not to allow workers to enter grain storage facilities without proper equipment, precautions and training. “OSHA will not tolerate non-compliance with the Grain Handling Facilities standard,” said Michaels in the letter. “We will continue to use our enforcement authority to the fullest extent possible.”
OSHA’s Region V, which includes Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin, initiated a Grain Safety Local Emphasis Program in August 2010, and has since conducted 61 inspections and issued 163 violations to grain operators/facilities. The violations cover hazards associated with grain engulfment, machine guarding, lockout/tagout of dangerous equipment to prevent accidental energization start-up, electricity, falls, employee training and combustible dust hazards.
These investigations also fall under the requirements of OSHA’s Severe Violators Enforcement Program. Initiated in the spring of 2010, SVEP is intended to focus on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations in one or more of the following circumstances: a fatality or catastrophe, industry operations or processes that expose workers to severe occupational hazards, employee exposure to hazards related to the potential releases of highly hazardous chemicals and all per-instance citation (egregious) enforcement actions. For more information on SVEP, visit http://www.osha.gov/dep/svep-directive.pdf.
Fact Sheet on Haasbach LLC and Hillsdale Elevator Co.
Haasbach Violation Description
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued Haasbach 11 willful citations with penalties totaling $504,000. The employer failed to provide body harnesses and lifelines to prevent engulfment above the waist to each of four young workers and their supervisor. It also failed to train the workers on the hazards of moving grain, and to ensure that all mechanical equipment was shut down before the workers entered the bin on the two days that they worked there. Also alleged is a willful violation for directing workers to walk on the grain to make it flow. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements or plain indifference to worker safety and health. The grain industry has long recognized these hazards and how to prevent workers from being engulfed.
Haasbach also has received 12 serious citations with penalties totaling $50,400 for additional violations of the Grain Handling, Lockout and Tagout and other standards, and one other-than serious citation with a $600 penalty for failing to provide a hazard communication program. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. OSHA penalties for Haasbach total $555,000.
The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has assessed Haasbach LLC $68,125 in civil money penalties for violating the Child Labor standards of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The company employed two 14-year-olds and one 15-year-old in occupations involving warehousing and transportation. It employed two of these children in a hazardous occupation requiring them to climb 48 feet to enter a grain bin and one child in a hazardous occupation involving the operation of a power-driven hoisting device. The company also required all of the children to work more than the allowed number of work hours for minors.
The workers’ compensation carrier insuring Haasbach is Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co.
Hillsdale Violation Description
Hillsdale Elevator Co. has received 17 willful citations with penalties of $714,000. The citations allege eight instances of directing workers to enter bins, silos or tanks where a buildup of grain on the sides could fall and bury them. The citations also allege nine instances of failing to shut down and to lock out or take other measures to prevent mechanical equipment in the bin from endangering employees. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.
Hillsdale Elevator Co. also has received five serious citations alleging violations of the Grain Handling and Lockout standards with penalties totaling $15,000. OSHA discovered the violations during its investigation into the death of a 49-year-old worker who was engulfed by corn in a storage bin at the company’s facility in Geneseo, Ill. OSHA discovered additional violations during a later inspection of the company’s Annawan, Ill., facility. A serious citation is issued when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. OSHA penalties for Hillsdale total $729,000.
The workers’ compensation carrier insuring Hillsdale Elevator is Westfield Insurance Co.
OSHA’s grain handling facilities standard includes a requirement that employers provide workers entering bins or tanks with appropriate personal protective equipment such as full body harnesses for easier removal in the event of an emergency. Providing proper protection and not allowing workers to walk or stand in products piled higher than the waist reduces the risk of workers sinking and suffocating. The standard is available at http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9874
