OSHA has proposed $158,250 in fines against a Mazon, Illinois-based grain handling company, for three alleged willful and four alleged serious violations of federal workplace safety standards found during a September 2007 investigation after an employee was asphyxiated in a grain bin.

The willful violations include failing to lockout equipment prior to bin entry to prevent accidental energy start-up; allowing employees to walk on the grain to make it flow; and failing to require employees to wear body harnesses with lifelines during bin entry.

The serious violations include deficient ladders; failing to provide rescue equipment for employees entering a grain bin; training deficiencies; failing to implement an emergency action plan; and failing to maintain communication between observers and persons entering the grain bin.

The company operates as a corporation in four Illinois locations: Mazon, Ransom, Dwight, and Odell. The grain co-op includes some 2,000 landowners and farmers.