Inspection Detail

Inspection: 120445580 - Featherlite Manufacturing, Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: Minnesota Department Of Labor And Industry

Investigation Summary

Employee #1 was loading some equipment onto a flatbed trailer at a satellite building a half mile east of the main plant. The foreman of the building was assisting him. A grain handling facility is also located at the south end of the site. Employee #1 told the foreman that he could not handle the corn dust and had to leave. Employee #1, who had a history of asthma, was taking steroids and used an inhaler. Employee #1 drove a forklift across the gravel lot toward Highway 16, swerving as he approached the highway. A local truck driver at a nearby truck scale saw Employee #1 slumped over near the forklift. He had stopped, set the parking brake, and was attempting to get off the forklift. The truck driver, an EMT who also suffers from asthma, arrived and offered his aid. Employee #1 lost consciousness. The driver attempted to ventilate him, but had difficulty getting his mouth open. The ambulance arrived and took Employee #1 to a local football field, where a Mayo One helicopter arrived and transported him to St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, where he was pronounced dead. The grain dust in the air may have triggered the asthma attack.

Keywords: LOADING, RESPIRATORY, UNCONSCIOUSNESS, ALLERGIC REACTION, INHALATION, GRAIN DUST