Grain Handling Company Gets $122,000 OSHA Citation Thrown Out

A grain handling facility won its bid to toss a $122,878 safety penalty after an appeals court confirmed the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn’t have authority over the working conditions atop railcars.

OSHA cited MFA Enterprises Inc, doing business as West Central Agri Services, for a willful and serious violation after finding the company failed to ensure employees wore personal protective equipment while working on top of railcars.

The Federal Railroad Administration preempts OSHA’s jurisdiction, Judge Ralph R. Erickson, of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, said in vacating and reversing the administrative law judge’s ...