No OSHA citations in deaths of 2 teenagers
January 31, 2012 by Fred HosierPosted in: Bizarre Accident of the Week, Fatality, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, OSHA news
PDF OSHA says it won’t issue any citations for the incident that killed two teenage corn detasselers in Illinois last year.
The federal agency says there’s no way the girls’ employers, R&J Enterprises and Monsanto Co., could have known about the hazards in the field in July 2011.
Jade Garza and Hannah Kendall, both 14, were working in a field in Tampico, IL, when they were electrocuted by a pivot irrigator. They were among several teens who came in contact with the electrified irrigator.
A letter from OSHA said lightning striking and damaging a meter box may have caused the electrical system and components of the irrigator system to become energized. OSHA issued recommendations to ensure the electrical system and irrigation equipment is grounded.
Attorneys for the Kendall family called the OSHA decision a travesty of justice and one-sided. The lawyers say their own experts who inspected the field and equipment involved are convinced there were known hazards and the deaths could have been prevented. A PDF of the Kendall family statement can be found here.
The Kendall family has sued R&J and Monsanto.
Detasseling corn is a common summer job for teenagers in farming communities. It involves tearing the tassels off the top of the corn to prepare it for cross-breeding. It’s often considered a rite of passage.
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February 7th, 2012 at 11:59 am
I agree with the OSHA inspectors. Not all fatalities are the fault of the company. Because someone is killed is not a guarantee of compensation. The deaths could have been prevented if the kids worked at McDonalds then they are faced with customer rage. There is an element of risk to everything and that is what we take when we engage in activity of any kind.
February 9th, 2012 at 3:12 pm
They don’t have to ensure the electrical system is grounded?!? Come on.
February 15th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
I had written a much longer comment but it didnt post.
grounding and bonding are to prevent overload fire. They do not stop the flow of current. From what I can tell this electrocution was caused by standing water. A ground rod or two, or ten, would only have put more current into the ground the girls were located on, and the water they were apparently standing in.
Electricity does not really take the path of least resistance. It takes ALL paths back to its’ source, in varying levels depending upon resistance; and water is an excellent conductor with extremely low resistance.
The types of devices that might have helped would have been GFCI breakers or similar technology that sense current inbalance or leakage and stop the flow of current.
Even with that said, if the fault was on the meter side, then that is an issue with the power company.