Moving company cited in heat-related death of worker

Employer name: Select Van and Storage doing business as Mayflower/United, 10511 S. Circle, Omaha, Nebraska

Citations issued: The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued one serious, and one other-than-serious safety violation to the company by mail on Aug. 14, 2015.

Investigation findings: One serious violation was issued for exposing workers to excessive heat following an investigation into the death of a 49-year-old employee on June 9. The worker was packing and loading boxes in a moving truck on a day when the heat index reached 112 degrees Fahrenheit. He suffered heat stroke and died later that same day at a local hospital. He had been employed by the company for more than eight years.

The company was also issued one other-than-serious violation for failing to report the death of a worker within eight hours, as required.

Quote: "You hear a story like this and it just breaks your heart. Heat deaths are so preventable. 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 and seek immediate medical attention," said Darwin Craig, OSHA's acting area director in Omaha. "Additional breaks, water and shade are important preventive steps."

Proposed Penalties: $12,000

Link to citations: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/osha/OSHA20151630fs.pdf

OSHA's Heat Safety Tool phone app allows workers and supervisors to calculate the heat index at their worksite, and, based on the heat index, displays a risk level to outdoor workers. The app is available for iPhone and Android mobile phones.

To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint; or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Omaha Area Office at 402-553-0171.