The Sun Prairie-based Didion Milling Inc. is facing additional fines and penalties from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration after a worker was killed in a silo accident at its Cambria facility last December. The U.S. Department of Labor has cited the company for 14 safety violations related to the incident, which has a resulted in $676,000 in fines.
OSHA investigators found that a manager, who was the 52-year-old man killed in the mishap, entered the unsafe grain bin despite recently having an external process underway to remove corn from the clogged structure. The agency also determined that the external process should have continued for several more days before allowing anyone to enter the grain bin.
The Cambria operation is the same facility where a contract worker was seriously injured in March 2020 after falling 30 feet from a catwalk in a corn dryer. And in 2017, an overnight explosion killed five employees and injured 15 others at the property.
Meanwhile, online records show the company has still not paid the $1.8 million fines it was issued in that explosion. A Didion spokesperson told media outlets that the company is appealing those penalties.
Categories: Wisconsin, General