The farm owner of Bare Bones Farm in Greenwood, Mississippi in the United States of America has been slapped with a hefty fine after 20-year-old Nantes Lennox, a South African died after suffocating in a grain bin on the farm. Lennox got trapped after he and two of his co-workers and their supervisor climbed into a storage bin to unclog it. Three of the workers were South Africans.
The incident, which took place in October 2022, shocked the Mississippi farming community. According to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the soybeans inside shifted, trapping the four workers. When emergency responders arrived, a hole was cut in the storage bin’s side to free the workers. However, five hours later the body of the deceased worker was recovered, OSHA announced.
Lennox, from Springbok in the Northern Cape was in the US as part of the H-2A temporary agricultural workers programme (the H-2A visa programme), which helps American farmers fill employment gaps by hiring workers from other countries.
The incident happened hot on the heels of the farm being found wanted by the Department of Labour in the United States of America for violating health and safety standards following an inspection in October 2022.
Deathtrap farm
A citation and penalty notification issued on 10 April 2023, fined the farm for not providing the employees entering the soybean storage bin full body harnesses connected to a lifeline throughout the duration of the entry. Food For Mzansi saw the notification.
The farm was fined $62 504.00 for the violation of the health standard. Another fine of $ 6 250.00 is payable for not providing employees entering the soybean storage with proper equipment in the event of an emergency or accident.
The farm is also facing fines totalling $90,182 for willful and serious safety violations following the death of the teenager.
According to the OSHA, inspectors determined that Bare Bones farm failed to train employees on general safety precautions, including preventive measures for bin-entry procedures and did not make sure workers de-energised the equipment and machinery before entering the soybean storage bin.
Charge sheet
The farm has been given until Tuesday, 2 May to have the violations abated.
“On or about October 13, 2022, at storage bin numbers 1 and 2, the employer did not fit test employees who are required to wear using a comfort air half facepiece respirator during loading and unloading soybean, exposing employees to a respiratory hazard,” the penalty read.
Other violations include the employer not writing a respiratory protection program for employees, as well as not training the employees entering soybean storage bins on general safety precautions.
“The employer did not issue an entry permit prior to employees entering the soybean storage bin, exposing employees to an engulfment, the employees did not de-energise the equipment and machinery prior to entering the soybean storage bin.
“The employer did not test the air for oxygen content prior to permitting employees entry, and the employer did not certify that preventative maintenance of equipment associated with the dryers, storage bins, and augers were documented and maintained,” the penalty stated.
At the time of publishing, efforts to get a comment from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation on the incident were not successful. This is a developing story.
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