COLUMBUS, Wis. – Two to three seconds, that is how quickly flowing grain can trap a worker in a grain storage bin. Sixty seconds later, hundreds of pounds of grain can submerge and smother them. When it happens, more than half the time workers die by suffocation.

Federal safety investigators found workers faced with this and other dangers at Duffy Grain’s Columbus facility when they visited the site in September 2015. They observed workers at risk of being engulfed in grain and entangled by operating augers as they cleaned storage bins.

Employer name: BCS Manufacturing LLC

Inspection site: 4215 Tholozan Ave., St. Louis, Missouri

Citations issued: March 11, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited BCS Manufacturing for 23 serious and three other-than-serious safety violations.

HILLSBORO, Ohio – For a 26-year-old Ohio construction worker, his new job turned out to be his last. Just a month after starting work for Stauffer Site Services LLC, a nearly 10-foot deep trench collapsed and buried him as he worked installing a sewer line. The man died two days later due to the injuries he suffered.

SUPERIOR, Wis. — An 18-year-old man lost his life just three months after starting work for Lunda Construction Company. The carpenter’s apprentice was mixing concrete for the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge resurfacing project when a rough-terrain forklift struck and killed him. The bridge spans St. Louis Bay between Superior and Duluth, Minnesota. Since 2012, three workers have died while working on Lunda highway construction projects.

AVON, Ohio ‒ Each time a worker mounts a scaffold they risk a dangerous fall, the leading causing of death in the construction industry. One in four who died working in the construction industry in 2014 died in a fall.

EDGERTON, Wis. ‒ Some may argue the belief that the number “13” brings misfortune is just superstition, but there is no doubt that fall safety violations by a Wisconsin roofing contractor found in 13 inspections in 10 years are a tragedy waiting to happen. Falls are a leading cause of death in the construction industry, accounting for nearly 40 percent of fatalities in 2014.

WESTBURY, NY — To make ice products at Arctic Glacier U.S.A. Inc.’s Hicksville plant, the company uses large amounts of anhydrous ammonia in the plant’s refrigeration system. When working with large amounts of hazardous chemicals such as ammonia, an employer must have a comprehensive and effective program in place for their safe management and the protection of its workers.

Employer name: ALSS Recycling Inc.

Inspection site: 2600 Republic Blvd., Birmingham, Alabama 35203

NEW YORK – JP Morgan Chase Bank terminated a loan delivery operations manager at its Iselin, New Jersey offices illegally after he raised concerns about financial transactions to his superiors, a whistleblower investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found.

CINNAMINSON, N.J. – Workers of Berlin Builders, a residential construction contractor with projects throughout Southern New Jersey, are a step away from a serious injury or worse because their employer routinely exposes them to dangerous falls by ignoring safety standards that are required by law.

Employer name: Pilgrim’s Pride Corp.

Investigation site: 2045 Highway 244, Russellville, Alabama 35653

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on March 07 for one repeated and one serious safety violation.

OSHKOSH, Wis. ‒ A 20-year-old window washer fell more than 58 feet to his death because his safety lines were not properly tied off, federal inspectors found.

Employer name: Dollar General Corporation

Inspection site: 203 Wedowee St., Bowdon, Georgia 30108

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations to the employer on March 07 for two repeated and one serious safety violation.

Employer name: Continental Construction Group, 177 North Common St., Lynn, Massachusetts

Citations issued: Five repeat and two serious citations.

Employer name: D.S. Meyer Enterprises LLC, 34 Maple Ave. Waldwick, New Jersey  

Site: 45 Waterview Blvd., Parsippany, New Jersey

Citations issued: On Feb. 29, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Parsippany Area Office issued citations for five serious and one willful violation.

MONTGOMERYVILLE, Pa. – On July 11, 2014, a worker at Lloyd Industries’ Montgomeryville plant suffered the amputation of three fingers after a machine without safety guards crushed his hand. The company, a leading manufacturer of fire dampers and HVAC products, fired him immediately after the incident.

Employer name: Marine Builders, Inc.

Inspection site: 5821 Utica Pike, Jeffersonville, Indiana

Citations issued: March 1, 2016

Investigation findings: The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s cited Marine Builders Inc. for one repeat, eight serious and three other-than-serious safety violations.

Employers:  U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Correctional Center Hazelton

U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Correctional Institution McDowell

Inspection sites:  Hazelton FCC, 1640 Sky View Drive, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia

McDowell FCI, 101 Federal Drive, Welch, West Virginia

Employer: Wardman Hotel LLC, doing business as Marriott Wardman Park Hotel

Site: 2600 Woodley Road, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Citations issued: On Feb. 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations for 12 serious and 14 other-than-serious violations.

KILN, Miss. – When followed, safety standards save lives and painful injuries. In the construction industry, ignoring them can lead to disaster as it did for 54-year-old Gary Berthelot.