Portland Company Cited Following Death Of North Dakota Farmer

Columbia Grain international has been cited by the OSHA after reportedly exposing workers to grain-handling hazards after a worker was buried by corn and died in a North Dakota grain bin last summer.  The agency is proposing $190,000 in penalties against the Portland, OR-based company after a worker died while cleaning a bin last July in eastern North Dakota.

OSHA inspectors determined that Columbia Grain failed to follow the agency’s standards during grain bin entry and cleaning operations.  The agency issued a citation for allowing employees to “walk the grain” and for not preventing contact with operating machine parts by locking out the bin’s conveyor system.  Kevin John Anderson, 58, was cleaning a bin when he became buried under 15 feet (4.6 meters) of corn and died.

The company has 15 business days to contest the findings.

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