UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Abstract: At 1:19 p.m. on April 5, 2022, an employee was using a pressure washer to rinse whey permeate sediment off the interior walls of a 3,500 gallon poly tank and wa s fatally injured after entering the tank. The tank had a couple inches of prod uct left in the bottom, tank entry was not planned, and there were no direct wit nesses of the entry. Shortly before the entry event, the employee called a cowo rker by telephone and requested that they bring a rope ladder to the tank, becau se the sprayer wand attachment of the pressure washer fell off inside the tank. The coworker delivered the rope ladder to the employee, and then left the whey permeate building for a couple of minutes to check on manure lagoon pumps in a d ifferent area. At approximately 1:19 p.m., the coworker returned to the whey pe rmeate building and observed the employee lying unresponsive inside the whey tan k, so they called 911, cut the side of the tank out with a saw that was in their work truck, and pulled the employee out of the tank. Lifesaving efforts at the site were not successful. The employee was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner. The employee died by drowning in liquid whey permeate.