Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Worker's leg got caught in an open running auger inside a steel grain bin and was later amputated at Ellsworth Co-op, Kansas








A flag waves in the wind on top of a grain storage bin, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015, near Dedham, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)


By Associated Press; Nick Viviani |
Posted: Tue 11:27 AM, Sep 20, 2016


ELLSWORTH, Kan. (AP) — Federal workplace safety officials are investigating a Kansas grain bin accident in which a worker's leg got caught in a running auger and was later amputated.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday that the 28-year-old Ellsworth Co-op worker had his left leg surgically removed Monday after the accident.

OSHA says in a statement that the unidentified worker stepped into an open auger well inside a steel grain bin while the auger was operational.

As OSHA's regional chief in Wichita, Judy Freeman says workers should never enter such bins when an auger is running.

The co-op's general manager and president, Larry Sheridan, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that OSHA investigators haven't been to that site since the accident and that he had no comment. 


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OSHA has opened an investigation at the grain handling facility.

“Workers should never enter grain bins while augers are operating,” said ”

OSHA says it has identified six major hazards in the grain-handling industry including engulfment, falls, auger entanglement, struck-by, combustible dust explosions and electrocution hazards.
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A man is in the hospital after getting his leg stuck in an auger.

The Ellsworth County Sheriff says it happened at the Ellsworth County Co-op just before 10:30 a.m. on Monday.

A medical helicopter was called in to transport the man to the hospital.

Eyewitness News reached out to several agencies but were not been able to confirm the man's condition.