Wood Floor Manufacturer Fined $30K After Fatal Silo Accident

QEP received a $30,000 fine and three safety violations following an OSHA investigation into the death of a worker killed while cleaning a silo at its Johnson City, Tenn., wood flooring plant, Johnson City Press reports.

James Reed, 47, had been spray-cleaning sawdust from the silo’s interior walls March 10 when 30 feet of sawdust collapsed on him.

The violations cited by the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration included:

• The employee was operating and working from an aerial lift 21 feet above the ground without any method of fall protection.
• The company failed to take effective measures to prevent the employee from entering the silo while conducting cleaning operations of the interior walls of the silo.
• The company failed to evaluate the designed rescue services’ ability to be available and respond to a rescue in a timely manner during the time the employee was inside the silo.