Sugarcane Worker Dies from Heat Stroke - Louisiana

Details

• Personal Author:
  Harrington, Daniel J. ; Oursler, Marcia
• Corporate Authors:
  Louisiana Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (Louisiana FACE) ; Louisiana. Department of Health. Office of Public Health. Section of Environmental Epidemiology & Toxicology. Occupational Health and Injury Surveillance Program
• Description:
  On August 5, 2019, a 52-year-old male Hispanic farm worker exhibited symptoms of heat-related illness and later fell unconscious after working outside for several hours. Paramedics were called to the scene, and he was transported to a local hospital, after which he was airlifted to a regional medical center and admitted to the ICU. He died several days later from heat stroke on August 11, 2019. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS - Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include: 1) Insufficient worker acclimatization program
  
  2) Lack of adequate breaks and shaded areas for workers
  
  3) Failure to monitor for symptoms of heat-related illness
  
  4) Lack of a written heat-related illness prevention plan. RECOMMENDATIONS - Louisiana FACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1) Develop and implement an acclimatization program for each worker at risk of heat-related illness. 2) Provide enough breaks with adequate shaded areas for workers. 3) Monitor workers for symptoms of heat-related illness during periods of heat stress. 4) Develop a written heat-related illness prevention program.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Farmers Heat Exhaustion Heat Stress Disorders Hot Temperature Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Farm Workers Fatalities Heat Exposure Heat Stroke Hot Environments OSHA Region 10 Outdoor Workers Rest Periods
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Agriculture ; Hispanic - Agricultural ; Foreign Born Workers ; Heat-related
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE24LA001
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Louisiana ; OSHA Region 6
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20069852
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 24LA001, 2024 May ; :1-13
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  Louisiana State Office of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting - (NAICS) ; 111930 - Sugarcane Farming - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2015/07/20
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:65418eef21e63a7a848b72e0f9bbb03cfba7bf27e80ec653d03719598b2da166af72ba15a54a9e6cefae6ee8eb77e00fdcb4bc66aacabb1bb916734ef22b01a8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/164827/cdc_164827_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 994.40 KB ]