B&B Simplot Grain Silos

An employee was taking a break by a baghouse after shoveling hot pellets that were being expelled from a cooler. While the pellets were still being expelled from the cooler hopper, a flame shot out of the discharge pipe, then backdrafted up the pipe into the cooler and then into the bag house. The employee suffered burns to the hands and arms from the resulting explosion.

On March 15, 2019, at 1530, two employees noticed smoke from the sawdust bin. The two employees attempted to move the sawdust in the bin to the ground via an auger system. Thirty minutes later, the employees opened the lower hatch. A blast of fire shot from the hatch, severely burning the two men. The first employee suffered burns on the neck, face, and hands. The second employee suffered burns on the chest and stomach area.

An employee was prepping to run a batch of feed when a grain dust explosion occurred at the establishment elevator, burning the employee. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee changing filters on a filter system connected to a grinding unit dropped one of the filters into the filter unit. The impact inside the unit created a spark that ignited the aluminum dust, causing an aluminum dust deflagration. A fire ball discharged from the filter unit, contacting and causing second degree burns to the employee's hands.

An employee climbed an aluminum extension ladder inside a grain bin to help remove a stirring machine. As the farmer began to lower the stirring machine from the top, one of the ropes broke, causing the stirring machine to strike the ladder and knock it out from under the employee. The employee fell to the base of the grain bin and sustained fractures requiring hospitalization.

A temporary employee was finishing up work for the day when the employee had an asthma attack due to grain dust in the dock area and was hospitalized.

An employee was assembling salads for packaging when her smock/apron got caught in the conveyor belt. The employee removed the ensnared smock and sprained her left shoulder. The employee was hospitalized.

Two employees were working on a roof that was approximately 18 feet above the lower level. The downspout for the grain bin (from a leg) was clogged and was removed by the two employees. While cleaning it, the injured employee slid off the roof and landed on their feet, fracturing their left ankle. Fall protection was not worn at the time.

An employee was loading a semi-trailer with corn. When climbing out of the silo, he slipped and fell onto the auger on the outside of the silo. His feet became entangled in the auger and were severed from the ankle down. A surgical amputation of both legs from the knees down was required.

An employee tripped over a bin and fell to the floor. She landed on her hip and braced herself with her arm, resulting in a fractured hip and wrist.

An employee was diagnosing the lack of flow of product to a powder bin. The employee removed the rotary star valve below the bin. While he was reinstalling the valve, his right middle finger was crushed between its shaft and its housing. The finger was partially amputated.

An employee was standing on a multi-purpose ladder installing head flashing over a window. Their feet were approximately 6 feet off the ground and three rungs from the top. The employee lost their grip on the drill they were using and the ladder tipped over. The employee fell from the ladder to the ground, resulting in a fractured left wrist, bruised chest, and lacerations to their face and lip.

An employee was inspecting the overhead area of a single-person lift and repositioning the lift through a double doorway. As they were transitioning through the doorway, they were caught between the doorframe and the vertical mast of the lift. The employee was hospitalized with injuries to the nose, left maxillary sinus, left orbital bone, and left jaw, with fractures at the maxillary sinus area.

An employee was loading a 4-inch wooden door into a pickup truck when he felt a pop in his right side behind his shoulder blade. He was hospitalized later that day and underwent surgery, having suffered a collapsed right lung.