NASHPORT, Ohio — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued proposed fines of more than $102,000 on an Ohio feed mill, Hanby Farms, for various safety rules violations.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which includes OSHA, made the announcement May 11. As part of its process, DOL gives those receiving such fines 15 days to respond. A company that’s fined has several ways it can respond.
Hanby Farms requested an informal conference, which was to have taken place last Thursday. The results of the meeting were not known at press time.
OSHA inspectors visited Hanby Farms on Nov. 6, 2014, as part of the Local Emphasis Program for grain handling. After identifying 29 serious safety violations, the agency proposed penalties of $102,900.
"Grain bins can become lethal in seconds," said Deborah Zubaty, OSHA’s area director in Columbus. "Hanby Farms needs to take immediate action to eliminate its facility’s safety and health hazards."
According to the announcement, OSHA inspectors found Hanby Farms failed to train employees on grain bin and confined space hazards and neglected to provide adequate rescue equipment for employees who entered the bin. Workers were also exposed to combustible grain dust hazards, moving machinery parts without guards, multiple electrical hazards, falls from unguarded railings, climbing on lift trucks and improper use of ladders.
Investigators noted powered industrial vehicles not approved for conditions where combustible grain dust might be present and improper storage of inflammable materials.
Co-owner of Hanby Farms, David Hanby, refused to talk about the situation last week, saying the matter was as yet unresolved.
A farm operation with fewer than 10 employees is exempt from OSHA inspections as long as it doesn’t have a farm labor camp, said Leah Curtis, director of agricultural law at the Ohio Farm Bureau.
Hanby Farms has 45 employees and does not have a labor camp. Curtis said farm safety is always important to farmers; however, she couldn’t speak to the situation at Hanby Farms.
The announcement from DOL also stated workers at the farm location were exposed to being buried in grain or overcome by noxious fumes; it further stated the company did not verify that conditions were safe before allowing employees to enter bins at the grain elevator and feed mill.
The federal government has been more aggressive in recent years about farm safety. According to Curtis, early last year the DOL withdrew a letter it had posted regarding rules for grain bin inspections, in which it seemed to say it had the authority to inspect grain bin work areas, even on small farms, based on the theory that once grain is loaded into the bins the work thereafter is not really farming.
Farmers and farm groups complained about the new policy, which has apparently been dropped.
Small family farms are not subject to OSHA inspections, said DOL Spokesman Scott Allen.
According to the DOL announcement, more than 26 U.S. workers died in grain bin entrapments in 2010, the highest number on record. After that, the department focused its enforcement effort on the grain and feed industry’s six major danger areas: engulfment, falls, auger entanglement, struck-by, combustible dust and electrocution.
Allen said it’s much more important to the department to get an abatement – correction of the hazardous situation – than to collect a large fine. However, he said it would be rare for the department to forego a penalty altogether once it’s been issued.
"We wouldn’t forego all the fines, but there’s usually room for a reduction," Allen said.
