Another round of OSHA’s most interesting cases

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Combustible dust explosion

Five workers were killed and 14 others were seriously injured.

Presented by Nicole O’Connor, assistant area director, Madison, WI

On the evening of May 31, 2017, a series of explosions occurred at a corn milling facility in rural Wisconsin. The blasts, caused by grain dust, left five workers dead and 14 others seriously injured. More than 40 fire departments responded, as did numerous emergency medical responders (including multiple helicopters) and law enforcement officers.

“Most of the workers coming out of the rubble were dazed and confused and had no idea what had happened,” O’Connor said. “Some of them came out with their clothes on fire, some with their clothing burned off of them and some with their hair still smoldering.”

Investigation details

Between 2010 and 2014, the company had been cited by OSHA for workers “entering bins improperly,” combustible dust issues, machine guarding issues and airborne overexposure to dust.

Business was “booming” because of a government contract to provide cornmeal to impoverished countries. The system for handling dust, however, couldn’t keep up with the increased volume.

The company also eliminated a sanitation crew to clean grain dust. This was done as a cost savings effort and because they had difficulty finding employees to perform the work. The sanitation duties were instead shifted to mill operators, but cleaning and preventive maintenance – which would have shut down production – took a back seat. Employees raised concerns about not having enough time to clean but were told to do the best they could. The workers often didn’t clean the upper levels of the facility, and housekeeping only happened when dust accumulations were identified.

“Imagine you have a highly combustible, explosive dust that once you get enough of it then you’re sending employees to go clean it up,” O’Connor said. “If you had gasoline pouring out during part of your process, would you wait until you had accumulated enough to start cleaning it up? You would want to stop that leak.”

The employer also decided workers’ blue flame-resistant clothing “looked terrible” when it got flour dust on it and would appear dirty to customers who came to the mill. Instead, they put the employees in white polyester clothing.

“The ER doctors said this caused those burns to be worse, as their uniforms melted to them,” O’Connor said.

The company didn’t have an emergency action plan, alarms or a universal radio channel to alert employees.

The aftermath

OSHA issued 19 citations, including eight willful and egregious violations, totaling $1.8 million in fines. The company also had to pay more than $10 million in restitution to victims and their families, and was fined another $1 million by the Department of Justice. Current and past company officials pleaded guilty to falsifying documents and obstructing an OSHA investigation. Two more company officials chose to go to trial. Both were convicted, each receiving two-year prison sentences, among other punishments.