South Idaho Dairy Slapped with OSHA Fine ($2,500) After Crushing Death

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Posted: June 20, 2008 03:28 PM

Updated: June 20, 2008 03:28 PM

By: Genevieve Judge

SHOSHONE, Idaho (AP) - A southern Idaho dairy was slapped with a proposed $2,500 fine by federal safety officials after a truck driver was killed during a fatal silage slide.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration determined that 30-year-old Chad Charles Thompson was killed March 7 after the 4-Bros Dairy near Shoshone allowed a 40-to-50 foot pile of silage to stack vertically.

David Kearns, OSHA assistant area director in Boise, says "Employees were exposed to potential engulfment and crushing hazards."

Thompson, who was driving for Hermiston, Ore.,-based Medelez Trucking Company, died immediately his truck was moved by the falling silage and struck him in the head.

Following the accident, beer, a substance resembling methamphetamine and a pipe that could have been used to smoke the illegal drug were recovered from Thompson's truck.