OSHA wants to fine a Florida company $24,000 after a worker died in July heat
A North Point company that says it’s “one of the largest hands-on ecological restoration and consulting firms” put a 42-year-old worker in a position to die in hazardous July heat, a U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety Health Administration investigation found.
OSHA wants to fine Earthbalance $24,576 for two Serious violations after the employee’s July 30 death after working in the Apalachicola National Forest near Bristol.
In the heat of the day, there was trouble
The Citation and Notification of Penalty says that workers toiled on an invasive plant removal project in 97-degree heat with 48% humidity and clear skies while wearing long-sleeved shirts and and pants throughout an eight-hour shift.
That, OSHA said, was “likely to lead to the development of serious heat-related illnesses such as, but not limited to, heat cramps, heat stress, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.”
And, the Labor release says, it did. The employee’s hands trembled, Labor said, and “he seemed confused, unable to respond to commands.”
He was sent to rest, but 30 minutes later, his supervisor found him unconscious.
“Without a cellphone signal, workers had to get help from a ranger station, 14 miles away from their job site,” Labor said. “By the time an ambulance became available, the worker had stopped breathing and responders found no pulse. Soon after transport to a hospital, doctors pronounced him dead.”
The second of the two Serious violations for which Earthbalance was cited stated that: “The employer failed to ensure that a person adequately trained to provide first aid to employees working in an area where there was no infirmary, clinic or hospital was available in case of severe injury or illness such as heat related emergencies.”
Earthbalance President and CEO Sarah Laroque did not return a phone message and an email from the Miami Herald. A search of OSHA’s online database says this is Earthbalance’s only OSHA worksite violation in the last 10 years.
