Workers at a Wisconsin mill believed that conditions at the mill were “normal” just before a combustible dust explosion that killed five employees.
That’s one of the startling findings of a Factual Investigative Update released by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), which is investigating the May 31, 2017 incident at the Didion Milling facility in Cambria, Wisconsin. In addition to the five fatalities, the other 14 employees working at the facility on the night of the incident were injured.
The explosion occurred in Didion’s “dry corn milling” facility, where raw corn is processed to create a variety of corn products. The dry corn milling process – particularly the acts of grinding and separating individual kernels of corn into distinct components – produces corn dust. Corn dust is combustible and is known to be explosive under certain conditions. The CSB’s Factual Investigative Update presents the perspectives of 10 of the 14 survivors as the events unfolded the night of the incident.