OSHA Investigates Grain Facility After Worker Death

Tuesday, May 24, 2016 | 0

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into a grain-handling facility in West Point, Neb., after an employee died of injuries sustained when he was engulfed by grain, KWBE radio news reports.

A grain bin at Prinz Grain and Feed Inc. collapsed last Wednesday after the maintenance worker had entered, engulfing him in corn. The worker, 52-year-old Todd Kaup, was flown to a nearby hospital after the incident, but he died of his injuries on Friday, according to the report.

OSHA’s Omaha area director, Jeffe Funke, told the radio station that OSHA is conducting comprehensive inspection of the facility, “which means wall-to-wall,” so that the workplace safety agency can ferret out any other potential hazards.

According to the report Prinz Grain and Feed was cited in September 2011 for workplace safety violations. At the time, the company was issued 12 serious citations, including some that concerned improper gain bin entry, Funke said.