OSHA Fines Grain Cooperative $65K

The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Wichita area office cited Quinter, KS grain cooperative Frontier Ag Inc. on January 15, 2016 for two repeated and three serious safety violations. Federal inspectors found the company failed to remove immediately grain dust accumulations greater than 1/8 of one inch and lacked an effective written housekeeping plan to address the accumulation of grain dust. OSHA also found employees exposed to fall hazards because ladder ways and platforms lacked guard railings.

"The grain handling industry is a high-hazard industry where workers can be exposed to numerous serious and life-threatening hazards," said Judy Freeman, OSHA's area director in Wichita. "Frontier Ag needs to reevaluate its housekeeping plan for grain dust removal and make immediate improvements to protect workers on the job."

Frontier Ag Inc. is an agribusiness company. The cooperative has 32 locations throughout Kansas with its administrative office in Oakley. The company employs about 330 employees, 19 of whom work at the Quinter location.

Proposed Penalties amount to $65,000.

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