OSHA fines Omaha moving company in worker’s heat-related death
August 25, 2015
Federal officials propose an Omaha moving company be fined $12,000 in wake of the death of a veteran employee in early June.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued one serious, and one other-than-serious safety violation against Select Van and Storage, doing business as Mayflower/United.
On June 9th, a 49-year-old worker packing and loading boxes inside a truck suffered heat stroke and died. The heat index that day hit 112 degrees. The employee had been with the company for eight years.
OSHA issued a serious violation for exposing workers to excessive heat. It issued an other-than-serious violation for failing to report the death within eight hours as required by federal law.
“You hear a story like this and it just breaks your heart. Heat deaths are so preventable <http://www.osha.gov/heat>. There’s just no reason for a worker to die this way. If you’re working in those extreme triple digits, you’ve got to train your workers to recognize the symptoms of heat stroke <https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/heatillness/3431_wksiteposter_en.pdf> and seek immediate medical attention,” said Darwin Craig, OSHA’s acting area director in Omaha in a written statement issued by OSHA. “Additional breaks, water and shade are important preventive steps.”
OSHA has recommended a penalty of $12,000.
Click here for a link to the citation.