OSHA Cites Grain Co-Op Following Engulfment in Silo

Federal workplace safety officials fined a grain-handling cooperative in central Illinois $303,510 after a worker was engulfed up to the waist in soybeans. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Topflight Grain Cooperative Inc. violated grain-handling safety standards. OSHA cited the co-op for willful violations that include allowing workers to enter the silo without first locking out or deenergizing hazardous equipment, failing to post an attendant outside the bin in case of emergency and allowing workers to enter a bin with a buildup of 10-15 feet of grain along the sides o...