The state Agriculture Department is holding a free seminar at Mandan's Baymont Inn on Nov. 12 to explain the requirements for facilities under the policy change, which regulates retailers under the same standards as manufacturers.

 

The change was made due to a deadly ammonium nitrate explosion at a facility in West, Texas, in 2013, the Bismarck Tribune reports. The blast killed 15 people and leveled part of the town.

 

North Dakota Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring says the OSHA policy change will bury companies in paperwork. The change will affect 275 North Dakota facilities, while only eight facilities were covered by the rule previously.

 

"We still feel this policy is unnecessary and excessive," Goehring said in a statement. "It will impose tremendous costs to agriculture without any clear benefit to worker or public safety."

 

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