SPECIAL NOTE: This appears to be the first case where OSHA has applied it’s new Instance-by-Instance Penalty for Willful Citations. This case involved a leg amupation while working inside a sile with the paddle conveyor still running. OSHA issued three (3) Willfuls using 1910.28(b)(6)(i) for each citation and all three (3) were willfuls.
An grain cooperative’s failure to ensure they followed required safety procedures contributed to how a 27-year-old worker suffered a partial amputation of his right leg when a paddle conveyor was left running when he and two other employees entered a soybean bin for cleaning. OSHA responded to the Aug. 15, 2022, injury and determined the company violated OSHA’s grain-handling safety and lockout/tagout regulations that require powered devices to be de-energized before workers enter bins.
OSHA found that the three (3) employees were working over three (3) unguarded holes in the bin, which were above the conveyer when the incident occurred. The company failed to place a guard or cover over the holes leading to the equipment or utilize guardrails or travel restraint systems to protect the workers from falling into the equipment.
OSHA issued four willful violations and one repeat violation, with proposed penalties of $629,946, for failing:
- To protect the three workers from falling into the sump holes.
- To deenergize equipment or use lockout/tagout methods to prevent the conveyer from operating when workers first entered the bin.
- To lockout/tagout the outside leg distributor to prevent grain from entering and engulfing the employees while they worked in the bin.
- To make sure the bin’s atmosphere was tested before the workers entered.
The grain cooperative received OSHA citations for similar violations at a different facility in 2021.
Citation 1 Item 1
Type of Violation: Willful – Serious; $156,259
29 CFR 1910.28(b)(6)(i): The employer does not ensure that each employee less than 4 feet (1.2 m) above dangerous equipment is protected from falling into or onto the dangerous equipment by a guardrail system or a travel restraint system, unless the equipment is covered or guarded to eliminate the hazard:
The employer does not ensure each employee is protected from the hazard of falling onto a paddled conveyor through Sump Hole #1 in Grain Bin #10. This violation most recently
occurred on or about August 15, 2022, when three employees were each exposed to fall hazards onto dangerous equipment through Sump Hole #1 in Grain Bin #10 while performing final cleanout in Grain Bin #10.
Ensure fall protection is utilized to prevent each employee’s exposure to dangerous equipment by covering each open sump hole.
Citation 1 Item 2
Type of Violation: Willful – Serious; $156,259
29 CFR 1910.28(b)(6)(i): The employer does not ensure that each employee less than 4 feet (1.2 m) above dangerous equipment is protected from falling into or onto the dangerous equipment by a guardrail system or a travel restraint system, unless the equipment is covered or guarded to eliminate the hazard:
The employer does not ensure each employee is protected from the hazard of falling onto a paddled conveyor through Sump Hole #2 in Grain Bin #10. This violation most recently
occurred on or about August 15, 2022, when three employees were each exposed to fall hazards onto dangerous equipment through Sump Hole #2 in Grain Bin #10 while performing final cleanout in Grain Bin #10.
Ensure fall protection is utilized to prevent each employee exposure to dangerous equipment by covering each open sump hole.
Citation 1 Item 3
Type of Violation: Willful – Serious; $156,259
29 CFR 1910.28(b)(6)(i): The employer does not ensure that each employee less than 4 feet (1.2 m) above dangerous equipment is protected from falling into or onto the dangerous equipment by a guardrail system or a travel restraint system, unless the equipment is covered or guarded to eliminate the hazard:
The employer does not ensure each employee is protected from the hazard of falling onto a paddled conveyor through Sump Hole #3 in Grain Bin #10. This violation most recently
occurred on or about August 15, 2022, when three employees were each exposed to fall hazards onto dangerous equipment through Sump Hole #3 in Grain Bin #10 while performing final clean out in Grain Bin #10.
Ensure fall protection is utilized to prevent each employee exposure to dangerous equipment by covering each open sump hole.
Citation 1 Item 4
Type of Violation: Willful – Serious; $156,259
29 CFR 1910.272(g)(1)(ii): Prior to entry, all mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and pneumatic equipment which presented a danger to employees inside grain storage structures in the grain handling facility are not disconnected, locked out and tagged, blocked-off, or otherwise prevented from operating by other equally effective means or methods:
The employer does not ensure that hazardous energy sources, including loading and unloading equipment, associated with Grain Bin #10 are deenergized, locked out, blocked off, or prevented from operating. The paddle conveyor and the outside leg distributor are not locked out which could create amputation, struck-by, and engulfment hazards if not completed prior to employee entry. This violation most recently occurred on or about August 15, 2022, while employees were performing final clean out in Grain Bin
#10.
Ensure all hazardous energy sources are locked out or prevented from operating by an equally effective means or method prior to permitting employees to enter grain bins and perform work.
Citation 2 Item 1
Type of Violation: Repeat – Other; $4,910
29 CFR 1910.272(g)(1)(iii): The atmosphere within a bin, silo, or tank in the grain handling facility is not tested for oxygen content prior to employee entry:
The employer does not ensure that the oxygen content in Grain Bin #10 is tested prior to employee entry. This violation most recently occurred on or about August 15, 2022, while
employees were performing final clean-out in Grain Bin #10.
Xxxxxx was previously cited for a violation of this occupational safety and health standard or its equivalent standard, 1910.272(g)(1)(iii), which was contained in osha inspection number 1522382, citation number 3, item number 1 and was affirmed as a final order on march 28, 2022, with respect to a workplace located at XXXXXXX, Pierson Station, Illinois 61929.
Test the atmosphere for oxygen content prior to employee entry.
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