Saturday, February 28, 2015

MNOSHA CONTINUES INVESTIGATION INTO CANNON FALLS 81-YEAR OLD WORKER'S DEATH WHO FELL TO HIS DEATH AT O'REILLY AUTO PARTS





MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2015



CANNON FALLS, MINNESOTA

The Minnesota Occupational Health and Safety Administration is investigating the death of an 81-year old Goodhue man who died last week while working at O'Reilly Auto Parts in Cannon Falls.

John Simon Schafer died Thursday following a work accident. He was 81.
Cannon Falls Police Chief Jeff McCormick said an officer was dispatched to the store at 12:24 p.m. after Schafer reportedly fell from a ladder. He was 8 feet to 10 feet off the ground while working in a confined area with metal racking, McCormick said. The fall was not observed and no foul play is suspected.

Schafer was unconscious and bleeding from the head when medical personnel arrived, according to the police report. He was airlifted to Mayo Clinic Hospital - Saint Marys Campus in Rochester, where he was pronounced dead later that day.

The manager of the Cannon Falls store where the accident occurred and officials at O'Reilly's corporate headquarters in Missouri both declined comment on Monday.

James Honerman, an OSHA spokesman, confirmed Monday that an investigation into Schafer's death began last week. He said there's "no set time frame for the investigation process, but we began our investigation on Friday. The details of our investigation are not public until the case is closed."

According to his obituary, Schafer was born in 1933 in Lake City. He graduated from high school in Red Wing before spending decades farming in Goodhue County. Upon retirement in 1985, he worked at Dairy Farmers of American in Zumbrota for 14 years.

It's unclear how long he'd been employed by O'Reilly Auto Parts.

Schafer's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Hay Creek. He will be buried in the St. Peter's Lutheran Church Cemetery in Belvidere.