Chicago Workers' Compensation Attorney Blog

An Illinois work accident that killed two teenagers working in a grain bin could have been prevented, the Associated Press reported.

"This was very preventable," said OSHA spokesman Scott Allen in the Department of Labor's Chicago office. "There are OSHA regulations that should have been followed and it appears they were not."

A third teenager was hospitalized; the preliminary investigation found that one of the workers was underage and the other employees lacked the proper safety equipment. The health and safety of teenage employees is governed by state and federal labor laws. A Chicago workers' compensation lawyer should be contacted whenever a young worker is injured on the job.

The accident happened in a grain bin owned by Haasbach LLC of Mount Carroll in northwestern Illinois. Holes were cut into the sides of the bin to drain thousands of pounds of corn so that the trapped workers could be freed. The three workers were inside the bin at the time of the accident. I fourth worker outside the bin was not injured.

Two employees, ages 19 and 14, were pulled from the bin and pronounced dead. A 20-year-old employee was hospitalized in fair condition. The preliminary investigation found that none of the employees were wearing safety harnesses or had life lines. The 14-year-old worker should never even have been allowed inside the grain bin.

"There was no reason for anyone under the age of 18 to be doing work inside the bin," Allen said.

OSHA reports 16 deaths inside grain bins in the last decade.