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OSHA Fines Hubbard Feeds $144,000
for Unsafe Working Conditions
The U.S. Department of Labor's
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited
Hubbard Feeds Inc. of Bismarck for unsafe working conditions
following a December 5, 2006, accident that injured three employees.
Proposed penalties total $144,000.
The employees entered a grain
storage bin to break apart bridged grain using hand tools such
as iron rods, pick axes, shovels and rope. Within 30 minutes,
the bridge collapsed, burying one employee and injuring all three.
In a storage bin, moldy or frozen grain can form a hard, thick
crust, or bridge, that can conceal a hazardous cavity. If a grain
bridge collapses during efforts to dislodge the compressed grain,
an employee standing on the crusty surface can be partially or
fully submerged.
Citations issued against
the company by OSHA's Bismarck Area Office allege two willful
and four serious violations of the agency's grain bin entry standards.
The willful citations, with proposed penalties of $126,000, were
issued for failure to prevent employees from entering grain storage
structures where bridged grain products and associated hazards
were present, to assign a standby observer and to provide rescue
equipment.
The serious violations, with
proposed penalties of $18,000, were issued for failure to train
employees for bin entry and rescue, to complete and certify bin
entry permits, to perform all required atmospheric testing prior
to bin entry and to perform lockout/tagout of equipment prior
to employees' entry into grain storage structures. Lockout/tagout
procedures are designed to protect employees who service or maintain
equipment from unexpected release of hazardous energy.
"Hubbard Feeds management
allowed employees to enter this bin exposed to hazardous, potentially
life-threatening conditions on eight occasions prior to this
accident, which demonstrates a blatant and total disregard for
the safety of the company's employees," said Bruce Beelman,
OSHA's area director in Bismarck.
Recent studies estimate that
approximately 15 fatalities related to grain bin storage entry
occur annually in the U.S.
A serious violation is defined
as one committed where there is substantial probability that
death or serious physical harm could result, and the employer
knew or should have known of the hazard. Willful violations are
those committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference
to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act
and its regulations.
Hubbard Feeds Inc. has 15
working days from the receipt of the citations to request an
informal conference with OSHA's area director, or to contest
the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational
Safety and Health Review Commission.
Source: OSHA News Release 5/30/07
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