$190K Fine Proposed After North Dakota Grain Bin Death

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Columbia Grain International for exposing workers to grain-handling hazards after a worker was buried by corn and died in a North Dakota grain bin last summer.

The agency is proposing $190,000 in penalties against the Portland, Oregon-based company after a worker died while cleaning a bin last July in Arvilla, in eastern North Dakota.

OSHA inspectors determined that Columbia Grain failed to follow the agency’s standards during grain bin entry and cleaning operations. The agency issued a citation for allowing employees to “walk the grain” and for not preventing contact with operating machine parts by locking out the bin’s conveyor system.

Kevin John Anderson, 58, was cleaning a bin when he became buried under 15 feet (4.6 meters) of corn and died.

The company has 15 business days to contest the findings. Columbia Grain did not immediately reply to a request for comment.