Worker Engulfed in Corn at CHS Grain Silo — OSHA Proposes $531K and Finds the Rescue Gear Was Wrong
ROSELAND — A 34-year-old worker sent in to clean out a grain silo before fall harvest never came out. On March 10, 2023, the Department of Labor announced that OSHA had cited CHS Inc. — the Fortune 100 farm cooperative operating as Agri-Service Center Roseland in Nebraska — with 16 violations and $531,268 in proposed penalties after the worker was engulfed by corn and asphyxiated on September 12, 2022.
The Incident
The worker entered the silo to clean out grain ahead of the harvest rush. As he worked, the corn shifted and swallowed him. Co-workers could not save him: the company had a retractable lifeline tripod on site that was not designed for side entry onto grain, and no adequate harness and lifeline system they could use for a rescue. Flowing grain acts like quicksand — a person can be buried to the waist in seconds and completely submerged in under a minute, and the pressure of the grain makes pulling them out by hand impossible.
The Investigation
OSHA cited CHS for two willful and fourteen serious violations. Investigators found the company allowed bin entry despite grain buildup, had no permit-required confined space procedures, failed to ensure emergency services were available, failed to evaluate hazards and train workers, and had no procedures to keep the bin’s machinery from running while workers were inside. OSHA also placed the operation in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which brings follow-up inspections until the agency is satisfied the hazards are gone.
OSHA’s Stance
“The dangers of working inside grain bins are well-known and safety standards have been in place for decades. Despite our continued outreach and enforcement activity in this highly hazardous industry, we continue to see preventable fatalities,” said Matthew Thurlby, OSHA’s area director in Omaha.
Lessons to Take Home
Grain bin entry is a permit-required confined space job, and every step matters: lock out the augers and reclaim equipment so grain cannot start flowing, test the atmosphere, rig a body harness and lifeline actually rated for the entry, and station a trained attendant with a working rescue plan. Owning safety equipment is not the same as owning the right equipment — a tripod that cannot be used on a grain bin protects no one. That is why eliminating the hazard — cleaning bins from outside with poles and vacuums wherever possible — always beats managing it.
And no worker should ever feel pressure to climb into a bin that isn’t locked out because harvest is coming. Give your crew the explicit power to refuse with our stop work authority talk, and make taking shortcuts the topic of your next meeting before the busy season starts.
