South Dakota Farm Death Won’t Trigger OSHA Probe

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will not be investigating the death of a Rapid City man who was killed while working on a haying operation in the Piedmont area.

The death of 31-year-old Anthony Siquieros on Jan. 2 was reported to OSHA as is required by law. But area Director Tom Deutscher tells the Rapid City Journal that federal law exempts small farming operations from OSHA investigations.

Authorities say Siquieros died when his clothing became entangled in a power takeoff shaft, a common piece of farm equipment that transfers power from a tractor motor to another piece of machinery. The Meade County Sheriff’s Office isn’t saying whether a safety shield was in place on the PTO shaft involved in the fatality.