Construction Worker Dies from Heat Stroke

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boyle, Debora ; Madery, Georjean ; Parker, David L.
• Corporate Authors:
  Minnesota Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (MN FACE) ; Minnesota. Department of Health
• Description:
  A 31-year-old male concrete construction laborer (victim) died of heat stroke near the end of a hot summer work day. The temperature was 88 degrees on the day of the incident, about 6 degrees higher than average. Water was provided for workers on the construction site at all times. The victim had been pouring concrete sidewalks and curbs along a city roadway for about nine hours. The crew foreman instructed him to lay in the shade of a nearby tree after he complained of not feeling well
  
  he rested in the shade for approximately ten minutes. When he got up to return to work saying that he felt all right, he began staggering, became incoherent, and was obviously unaware of his actions. Ice was applied to the victim's neck, and a passing police squad was flagged down. The victim's condition deteriorated rapidly, progressing to unconsciousness after ambulance personnel arrived. He was transported to a hospital, where he died about an hour later. MN FACE investigators concluded that, in order to prevent similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed: 1. workers should be acclimatized to working in hot environmental conditions, especially when it is necessary for them to perform heavy physical labor
  
  and 2. scheduled rest periods should be provided for workers performing tasks in hot environmental conditions.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Heat Stress Disorders Hot Temperature Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace

  More +
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Construction-industry Construction-workers Heat-exhaustion Heat-exposure Heat-stress Heat-stroke Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 5 Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance Work-practices

  More +
• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Heat-related
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE93MN009
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  4 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20027390
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-112940
• 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 93MN009, 1993 Oct ; :1-4
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Performing Organization:
  Minnesota Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  31-33 - Manufacturing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cd1809cb1542ba8e06974f2d8ccb8dddafc88ab2c7712326b9846eea26fc39c900650bda9bc67aabef57a8e8015a8bf7319eef7ca32196c1dcac46bd7ee4ce8b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167213/cdc_167213_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 14.11 KB ]