Grain company faces $676K in penalties in death
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The U.S. Department of Labor cited a Wisconsin grain processing company after an employee was found dead in a corn silo, the department said in a statement Monday.
Didion Milling Inc., based in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, faces up to $676,000 in fines and 14 citations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for alleged workplace safety failures that the agency said led to the engulfment death of a 52-year-old manager in a silo in Cambria, Wisconsin.
The manager was clearing corn debris from the allegedly unsafe silo on Dec. 8, 2020. When he did not arrive for a scheduled meeting, it was discovered that he was buried in the silo, and emergency services spent nine hours trying to recover the body, the DOL said in a statement.
An OSHA investigator cited the grain bin owner for four willful and 10 serious citations, mostly involving requirements for safe entry into grain storage structures. The company has also been investigated in recent years for a 2020 grain shelf collapse and a 2017 explosion that killed five workers.
Didion Milling has 15 business days to contest the citations and penalties.
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