Didion Milling in Cambria, WI has been charged with $676,808 in fines, along with 14 citations for safety violations. This comes after a deadly accident this past December with an employee who was engulfed in a dangerous silo. The worker was getting rid of corn debris in a silo and didn’t show up for a scheduled meeting. Once other employees started getting concerned because they couldn’t locate him, they called 9-1-1. After nine hours, emergency authorities recovered the 52-year-old employee’s body from the silo.
After the accident, an investigation began with the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The inspection into the company found that the worker went into the silo even though there was a way to get corn out of the clogged structure without having to step foot inside. OSHA stated that employees should’ve kept removing the corn without getting into the silo for several more days before entering back in. Due to the investigation, OSHA issued Didion Milling four willful violations and ten very serious safety citations, along with $676,808 in proposed fines.
Within the past four years, the company has run into other serious dangers, including five fatalities. In May 2017, there was an explosion that killed five employees and injured about 15 others. Also, in October 2020 one of their big grain shelves collapsed and almost buried one of the workers.
Didion now has three options. They have 15 business days from the time the citations were received to comply, otherwise, they can request an informal conference with OSHA’s Area Director, or contest the penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
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