Texas Feed Maker Fined $92K for Grain Dust, Other Hazards

A Navasota, TX feed manufacturing facility was cited Dec. 20 by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for eight serious violations and two repeat violations for repeatedly failing to guard machinery and protect workers from fall and grain dust hazards after an agency inspection this August, OSHA said in a recent press release.

ST Feed Mill LLC, doing business as Thomas Moor Feed was cited for similar violations in February 2015. The agency said in initiated a follow-up inspection of the facility on Aug. 24, 2016.

“Thomas Moore Feed cannot continue to expose workers to such serious hazards as unguarded machines and combustible grain dust,” said Joann Figueroa, OSHA’s area director in the agency’s Huston North office, in a statement.

The animal feed manufacturer, which has 47 workers employed at the Navasota facility, faces $91,911 in proposed fines.

The agency’s inspection in August revealed that workers were exposed to a number of deflagration and fire hazards outside of the site’s commodity barn, according to a copy of the OSHA citations. Explosion vents of the site’s dust collector did not offer adequate protection from the path of a fireball, and the dust collector did not have the ability to shut down in the event of a deflagration. Inspectors also found that the ductwork of the dust collection system was not equipped with access openings, and the cyclone of a hammer mill was not protected from explosion hazards.

The company has 15 days from the issue date of the citations to comply, schedule a meeting with an OSHA area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

For related articles, news, and equipment reviews, visit our Equipment Zones