Chester Cleveland, 58, of St. Anne, was a 40-year employee at Whitaker Grain. Part of his job was training others in the safe entry of grain bins. Cleveland died Wednesday, January 7, 2020 in a horrific workplace accident after falling into a massive Farmers Elevator Co. grain bin near Manteno, Illinois.
Workplace Accident
He was performing maintenance in the 110-foot grain bin when he fell 70-75 feet down. He landed and sank into approximately 8,000 bushels of corn.
The Manteno Community Fire District received a call at 11:15 a.m. reporting a person in the grain bin. When they arrived, emergency crews found two people in the bin. Another employee had jumped in to save Cleveland.
Emergency crews were able to save the second employee. However, they did not retrieve Cleveland’s body until 6:00 p.m.
The recovery operation involved twelve fire trucks, several police vehicles, four ambulances, and a Medevac helicopter.
OSHA Requirements
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires grain bin employees to wear a body harness with a lifeline whenever they enter a grain storage structure where there is enough grain to pose an engulfment hazard.
It is unclear if Cleveland was wearing the required safety equipment at the time of his accident.
Farmers’ Elevator Co. of Manteno is a large grain co-op in northern Kankakee County. Whitaker Farmers Grain Co. became part of this co-op in 2002.
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