A Nebraska worker barely escaped with his life after being trapped in a bin at a grain-handling cooperative.
The incident occurred in May 2017 when the Farmers Cooperative employee had entered the bin to clear clumps of soybeans while the auger was running. As the clumped beans cleared, the grain shifted and knocked the worker off of his feet. The auger drew the cleared beans to the bottom of the bin and engulfed the worker up to his chest.
A 51-year-old worker was fatally injured when he became engulfed in flowing grain in a railcar load-out elevator at Prairie Ag Partners. The worker was killed when attempting to remove a jam from a chute while the auger was moving.
Congress is using an omnibus appropriations bill scheduled to be voted on this week to remind OSHA of a 36-year-old Congressional exemption that keeps small farms out of the agency’s regulatory reach. The language added to the bill “makes crystal clear…that OSHA policies and inspectors better get in line with the law,” according to U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.).